QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY.    No.  LVII. 


THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO 
AS  A  FREEMAN 


OBSERVATIONS   ON  HIS   CHARACTER,  CONDITION,  AND 
PROSPECTS  IN   VIRGINIA 


BY 


«   PHILIP   A.  BRUCE 


NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S    SONS 


1889 


i 
COPYRIGHT   BY 

PHILIP   A.  BRUCE 

1889 


Press  of 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
New  York 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION vii 

I. — PARENT  AND  CHILD  i 

II. — HUSBAND  AND  WIFE        ....  15 

III. — MASTER  AND  SERVANT    ....  29 

IV. — BLACKS  AND  WHITES       ....  44 

\V. — THE  NEGRO  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH,  61 

VI. — THE  NEGRO  AND  THE  CRIMINAL  LAW   .  77 

VII.— RELIGION 93 

VIII. — SUPERSTITION in 

IX. — GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS — MORAL      .  126 
X. — GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS — MENTAL   .  143 
XI. — REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SYSTEM    .  160 
XII. — THE  NEGR&  AS  AN  AGRICULTURAL  LA 
BORER    .         .         .         .         .         .  175 

XIII. — MATERIAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  LABORER  .  193 

XIV. — RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.        .        .  211 

XV. — MECHANICS 228 

XVI. — FUTURE  OF  NEGRO 241 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  Southern  negro,  both  as  a  man  and  as  a  citizen, 
has  been  so  often  and  so  fully  discussed,  and  from 
such  a  variety  of  standpoints,  that  it  would  seem  al 
most  impossible  now  for  any  new  information  to  be 
produced,  or  any  opinion  advanced  that  would  be 
likely  to  add  much  to  the  general  knowledge  of  the 
problem  which  his  presence  creates,  or  to  dispel  any  of 
the  darkness  that  envelops  his  future.  That  his  presence 
in  the  South  constitutes  a  problem  of  the  gravest  import 
ance  is  obvious  to  any  one  who  has  had  an  opportunity 
of  examining  closely  the  various  tendencies  of  his  nature 
and  conduct  in  those  rural  communities  in  which  indi 
viduals  of  his  race  form  a  large  proportion  or  a  great 
majority  of  the  inhabitants.1  It  is  in  such  communities 
as  these  that  the  observations  embodied  in  this  volume 
were  made,  these  observations  extending  over  a  long 
series  of  years,  but  being  entirely  confined  to  the  period 
that  has  elapsed  since  the  war.  It  is  only  as  a  freeman 
that  the  negro  has  been  presented  to  my  view,  for  I  have 
no  distinct  recollection  of  slavery  as  an  institution  ;  it  is 
only  as  he  has  been  affected  by  the  circumstances  sur 
rounding  him  since  his  emancipation  that  he  is  regarded 

y*1  The  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Southern  negroes  are  found 
in  the  rural  districts,  the  number  inhabiting  the  towns  and  cities 
being  too  small  to  exercise  any  material  influence  on  the  general 
destiny  of  their  race. 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

in  the  following  pages.  I  have  sought  to  describe  him 
in  the  light  of  that  modification  of  his  character  which 
subsequent  conditions  have  worked,  as  well  as  in  the 
light  of  the  resistance  to  these  conditions  which  his 
ancestral  traits  are  still  making.  The  picture  drawn  will, 
no  doubt,  seem  gloomy  and  repelling  in  its  moral  aspects. 
In  reference  to  this,  I  will  only  say  that  I  have  stated  my 
conclusions  impartially  and  dispassionately,  without  any 
intention  of  improperly  reflecting  upon  a  population 
deserving  of  consideration  in  so  many  ways,  and  entitled 
to  forbearance  in  all.  If  I  have  fallen  into  any  mistake, 
it  has  been  in  applying  to  that  population  the  common 
ethical  standard  by  which  the  members  of  white  commu 
nities  are  judged.  I  have  been  led  to  employ  this  stand 
ard  not  only  because  I  believe  it  to  be  the  only  proper 
test,  but  also  because  I  earnestly  hope  that  a  description 
of  the  moral,  social,  and  political  bent  of  the  negroes, 
wherever  they  are  found  in  a  teeming  mass,  will  quicken 
the  efforts  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  task  of  im 
proving  them.  No  one  can  dwell  for  any  length  of  time 
in  those  sections  of  the  South  where  the  members  of  that 
race  predominate,  without  being  animated  by  a  strong 
desire  that  every  means  should  be  used  to  reform  and 
elevate  them,  if  not  on  their  own  account,  then  on 
account  of  the  country  which  they  inhabit.  Patriotism 
steps  in  to  inspire  the  wish,  whether  it  would  otherwise 
arise  or  not.  I  have  been  moved  to  write  with  unre 
served  freedom  and  candor,  in  order  that  there  may  be  a 
clearer  conception  of  the  evils  springing  from  the  pres 
ence  of  the  blacks,  as  well  as  a  juster  notion  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  remedies  that  should  be  adopted  to  remove 
these  evils.  There  is  much  in  the  moral  character  of 
this  people  that  is  partially  ascribable  to  the  influences  of 


IN  TROD  UCTION.  vi  i 

slavery  ;  I  have  not  touched  at  any  length  on  these  influ 
ences,  because  my  aim  has  been  to  delineate  the  negro 
as  he  is,  without  reverting  to  the  possible  causes  of  his 
condition  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  past.  Now  that  he 
is  a  freeman  and  a  citizen,  he  must  stand  like  the  mem 
bers  of  every  other  class,  on  his  own  individual  merits, 
and  according  to  these  merits  he  must  be  estimated.  An 
apology  for  his  shortcomings  on  the  score  of  slavery  has 
no  practical  bearing  now,  except  so  far  as  it  is  calculated 
to  diminish  the  discouragement  which  his  moral  defi 
ciencies  are  apt  to  inspire.  Every  decade  withdraws 
him  still  further  from  the  transmitted  spirit  of  the  former 
regime  ;  every  decade  only  removes  a  still  greater  num 
ber  of  the  artificial  props  that  have  hitherto  supported 
him.  The  truest  lover  of  his  country,  as  well  as  the  most 
disinterested  friend  of  the  blacks,  is  he  who  will  portray 
their  character  and  depict  their  society,  without  partiality 
and  without  prejudice.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how 
any  one  can  contemplate  in  a  narrow  and  illiberal  way 
the  questions  involved  in  their  numerical  increase  at  the 
South,  for  these  questions  in  reality  touch  every  citizen, 
affect  directly  or  remotely  the  interests  of  every  commu 
nity,  and  are  as  wide  in  their  scope  as  the  republic  itself. 
Such  questions  come  very  closely  home  to  the  Southern 
people.  Much  as  the  subject  of  the  negro  has  been  dis 
cussed,  that  subject  continues  to  be  profoundly  interest 
ing  to  them,  because  it  is  so  intimately  associated  with 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  section  in  which  they 
live.  In  the  light  of  this  interest,  which  they  share  with 
the  most  thoughtful  citizens  in  every  other  section  of  the 
Union,  a  further  contribution  to  that  discussion  will, 
perhaps,  be  neither  ill-timed  nor  useless. 

The  part  of  the  South  to  which  the  observations  re- 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

corded  in  these  pages  especially  relate  is  that  portion  of 
the  Old  Dominion  which  lies  between  the  James  River 
and  the  northern  boundary  line  of  North  Carolina,  a 
broad  area  of  country  which  is  locally  designated  as 
Southside  Virginia.  It  has  long  been  known  as  one  of 
the  most  important  tobacco  regions  of  the  United  States, 
every  variety  of  that  staple,  with  few  exceptions,  being 
cultivated  there  ;  for  that  reason,  it  was,  before  the  late 
war,  the  principal  seat  of  the  slave-holding  interest  in  the 
State,  tobacco  requiring  in  its  production  more  arduous 
and  protracted  labor  than  cotton.  By  the  census  of  1860, 
there  were  207,668  negroes  in  this  section,  a  number  that 
had  increased  in  1880,  after  an  interval  of  twenty  years, 
to  252,475,  which  is  not  very  far  from  being  one  half  of 
the  whole  colored  population  of  the  commonwealth.  In 
many  counties  of  Southside  Virginia  the  blacks  consti 
tute  two  thirds  of  the  inhabitants,  this  being  strikingly 
the  case  in  the  group  that  form  the  famous  "black  belt," 
which  includes  Amelia,  Brunswick,  Charlotte,  Cumber 
land,  Greensville,  Mecklenburg,  Nottoway,  Powhatan, 
Prince  Edward,  Prince  George,  Surry,  and  Sussex.  In 
Buckingham  the  negroes  exceed  the  whites  numerically 
by  two  thousand  ;  in  Lunenburg,  by  the  same  ;  in  South 
ampton,  by  three  thousand  ;  in  Dinwiddie,  by  four 
thousand  ;  in  Halifax  by  seven  thousand.  In  Campbell 
and  Pittsylvania  they  have  a  majority  in  a  combined  pop 
ulation  of  90,000.  In  all  of  these  counties,  which  con 
sist  of  a  varied  country  of  great  extent,  there  are  com 
paratively  few  school  districts  even,  in  which  the  whites 
predominate  over  the  blacks.  The  whole  section  is,  in 
fact,  inhabited  by  large  communities  of  negroes,  in  which 
their  characteristics  are  developed  in  entire  freedom 
from  the  pressure  of  any  influences,  except  those  that 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

emanate  from  themselves.  Nowhere  can  the  tenden 
cies  of  the  race  as  a  mass  be  studied  to  more  advantage  ; 
and  it  is  only  as  a  mass  that  I  have  sought  to  present  the 
individuals  of  that  race  in  this  volume.  For  this  reason, 
the  observations  are  generalized,  as  a  rule,  and,  except 
in  the  instance  of  the  chapters  on  the  material  condition 
of  colored  laborers,  without  special  local  details.  While 
the  scope  of  these  observations  is  more  or  less  locally 
restricted,  yet  I  believe  that  they  will  be  found  to  be 
applicable,  so  far  as  they  bear  on  the  moral  and  social 
tendencies  of  the  negro,  to  all  parts  of  the  South  in  which 
the  black  population  forms  large  communities,  which 
withdraws  it  from  the  influence  of  the  whites,  and  ex 
poses  it  only  to  the  influences  that  arise  in  its  own  soci 
ety.  The  members  of  that  population  have  recently 
emerged  from  the  same  state  everywhere  ;  their  homo 
geneity  as  a  people  has  always  been  remarkable  at  every 
period  of  their  history,  and  wherever  they  have  been  ob 
served.  The  local  circumstances  surrounding  them  in 
the  southern  counties  of  Virginia,  do  not  differ  from 
those  that  hedge  them  about  in  the  cotton  region  ; 
Southside  Virginia  is,  in  fact,  only  the  beginning  of  the 
black  belt  that  runs  as  far  to  the  southwest  as  Texas. 
What  is  true  of  the  negroes  in  one  division  of  this  belt 
is  very  likely  to  be  true  of  them  in  every  other,  only  that 
in  South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  the  condi 
tion  of  the  race  is  still  more  degraded,  and  the  problem 
which  that  condition  creates  more  difficult  of  solution, 
on  account  of  the  numerical  disproportion  between  the 
whites  and  blacks  throughout  the  whole  of  these  com 
monwealths,  and  not,  as  in  Virginia,  in  isolated  parts 
alone.  PHILIP  A.  BRUCE. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  Nov.  i,  1888. 


THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A 
FREEMAN. 


I. 

PARENT  AND   CHILD. 

OF  all  the  domestic  influences  at  work  among  the  planta 
tion  negroes  of  Virginia  wherever  they  are  gathered  togeth 
er  in  large  communities  of  their  own,  the  most  important 
in  its  scope,  on  the  whole,  is  that  which  emanates  from 
the  relation  of  parent  and  child.  It  is  to  this  relation 
that  the  attention  of  an  observer  of  their  society  is  first 
directed,  because,  of  the  various  elements  that  enter  into 
that  society,  it  is  likely  to  throw  most  light  upon  the 
future  of  the  race,  even  if  it  does  not  give  the  clearest  in 
dication  of  its  present  moral  and  social  condition.  How 
far  does  the  parental  authority  supply  the  discipline  that 
was  enforced  by  the  slaveholder  ?  And  to  what  extent 
does  it  foster  a  spirit  of  self-control  in  the  masses  of 
those  who,  in  time,  will  shape  the  public  sentiment  of 
their  people  ?  If  the  answer  to  these  questions  is  unfa 
vorable  to  this  relation,  to  what  can  we  look  to  cultivate 
that  spirit,  without  which  neither  the  young  nor  the  old 
are  capable  of  usefulness  or  worthy  of  esteem  ?  A 
search  in  other  directions  is  soon  discovered  to  be  vain. 


2      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

If  the  parental  authority  is  powerless,  then  there  is  no 
other  form  of  authority  to  take  its  place. 

Turning  for  a  moment  to  the  character  of  the  negro 
as  a  parent  when  a  slave,1  we  find  that  the  authority  to 
which  he  had  to  submit  had  a  favorable  effect  on  his 
relation  to  his  children.  The  mere  fact  that  he  was 
under  a  vigilant  and  energetic  guardianship  himself  in 
clined  him  to  restrain  them  far  more  than  he  would  have 
done  if  he  himself  had  not  been  goverjoed  at  all.  The 
spirit  that  was  imparted  to  him  by  his  situation  in  life 
he  communicated  to  them,  and  he  was  further  stimulated 
to  confine  them  within  proper  bounds  by  his  anxiety  not 
to  incur  on  their  or  his  account  the  displeasure  or  cen 
sure  of  their  master.  If  he  found  that  he  was  unable 
to  check  them,  then  it  was  only  necessary  for  him  to  ask 
that  master  to  interfere,  and  his  request  was  promptly 
complied  with.  As  soon  as  they  arrived  at  the  age  of 
intelligence,  they  themselves  saw  that  they  were  as  much 
and  as  constantly  under  the  rigorous  supervision  of  their 
owner  as  of  their  parents,  and,  in  many  instances,  more 
so,  and  this  double  force  of  authority  fully  controlled 
them  in  their  daily  life.  Thus  the  spirit  of  obedience 
and  restraint  was  inculcated  in  them  from  their  earliest 
years,  and  whether  supine  or  restive  under  restriction, 
they  knew  that  it  was  impossible  to  escape  from  it. 
While  the  power  of  slavery  thus  manifested  did  much 
to  complement  and  strengthen  the  parental  authority  and 
even  to  supply  it  when  it  was  wanting,  it  did  little  to 
animate  the  father  and  mother  with  a  desire  to  improve 
their  children  morally,  because  it  did  nothing  to  incite 
them  to  improve  themselves.  Neither  of  the  parents 

1  All  references  to  slavery  are  inferential  and  speculative,  not 
being  based  on  my  personal  observation  or  experience. 


PARENT  AND   CHILD.  3 

was  capable  of  instructing  their  children  in  the  simplest 
moral  principles  ;  they  were  either  unenlightened  them 
selves,  or  if  they  did  comprehend  the  ethical  difference 
between  a  virtue  and  a  vice,  they  were  generally  unin 
formed  as  to  the  proper  manner  of  teaching  it  ;  and 
their  cabin,  in  consequence,  was  an  unwholesome  atmos 
phere  for  a  youthful  nature  to  draw  its  first  breath  in 
after  it  had  begun  to  observe  its  surroundings.  In  that 
atmosphere  the  disposition  of  the  child  expanded  in 
harmony  with  the  low  instincts  that  had  come  down  to 
him  through  so  many  ages  ;  slavery  stepped  in  to  re 
strain  these  instincts  when  uncontrollable  otherwise,  al 
though  it  did  nothing  to  eradicate  them  and  to  substitute 
pure  and  honorable  impulses  for  them.  If  that  power 
which  the  master's  property  in  his  slave  child  gave  him 
the  right  to  exercise,  with  a  view  to  governing  him, 
either  directly  or  by  sustaining  the  parental  authority, 
had  not  been  brought  to  bear  for  that  purpose,  then 
practically  the  child  would  have  been  left  to  follow  his 
worst  inclinations,  since  his  father  and  mother  were  them 
selves  too  destitute  of  all  proper  knowledge  or  feeling  to 
teach  him  at  the  time  that  they  punished  him,  if  they 
punished  him  at  all  when  he  did  wrong.  The  discipline 
of  slavery  was  therefore  advantageous  in  a  repressive 
way  to  the  child,  selfish  and  ruthless  as  it  was  too  often. 
In  none  of  the  domestic  relations  has  the  influence  of 
emancipation  been  more  obvious  in  its  working  than  in 
that  of  parent  and  child,  but  the  result  might  have  been 
predicted  by  any  one  who  was  familiar  with  this  relation 
under  the  former  system,  as  well  as  with  the  general  dis 
position  of  the  negro  himself.  The  parental  authority 
is  now  much  laxer  than  it  used  to  be,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
no  longer  supported  by  all  the  power  of  the  slaveholder. 


4      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

Even  if,  in  any  instance,  a  father  and  mother  were  to  de 
sire  to  instil  a  spirit  of  self-restraint  into  their  children, 
they  would  not  be  led  to  seek,  when  necessary,  the  assist 
ance  of  their  former  master,  who  is  now  their  employer, 
and  who  never  assumes  the  right  to  intervene,  unless  the 
heedlessness  or  depravity  of  the  children  is  displayed  in 
injuring,  destroying,  or  purloining  his  property.  He  has 
no  longer  authority  enough  to  insist  upon  order  and  dis 
cipline  in  the  family  life,  or  to  compel  parents  to  prevent 
their  offspring  from  running  wild,  like  so  many  young 
animals.  Even  when  he  feels  any  interest  in  their  moral 
education,  irrespective  of  their  connection  with  the  gov 
ernment  of  his  own  estate,  he  finds  it  impossible  to  come 
:  near  enough  to  them  to  win  and  hold  their  attention,  for 
child  and  parent  alike  shrink  from  association  with  him. 
His  advances  are  not  cordially  met.  However  keen  his 
sense  of  moral  responsibility,  therefore,  and  however 
earnestly  he  may  wish  to  prosecute  a  plan  of  moral  edu 
cation  among  the  children  of  his  laborers,  he  runs  upon 
an  almost  insurmountable  obstacle  in  his  path  at  the 
very  beginning,  and  he  is  generally  discouraged  from 
going  any  further.  As  far,  therefore,  as  he  is  concerned, 
the  children  of  the  new  generation  receive  no  moral 
instruction  at  all.  Under  the  old  system,  the  ladies  of 
his  family  often  instituted  Sunday-schools,  to  teach  the 
young  slaves  the  leading  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith,  as  well  as  general  rules  of  good  conduct ;  but  this 
custom,  which  was  the  source  of  much  benefit  to  the 
pupils,  has  fallen  into  disuse  ;  and  as  there  are  now  no 
points  of  contact  between  the  home  life  of  the  cabin  and 
that  of  the  planter's  residence,  no  social  or  moral  influ 
ence  of  any  kind  emanates  from  his  domestic  circle  to 
enlighten  the  minds  of  the  children  who  live  on  his  estate. 


PARENT  AND   CHILD.  $ 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  moral  deficiencies  of  the 
parents  when  slaves.  On  the  whole  the  parents  of  the 
present  day  are  still  more  imperfect  as  ethical  teachers 
and  exemplars,  because  greater  unsteadiness  and  laxness 
of  conduct  prevail  among  them  under  the  freedom  of  the 
new  regime  than  was  observed  under  the  strictness  of 
the  old.  They  are  now  at  liberty  to  act  upon  all  the  im 
pulses  of  their  nature,  these  impulses  being  too  often 
censurable  as  violating  the  rules  of  propriety  and  moral 
ity,  or  if  not,  then  probably  originating  in  an  ignorance 
and  carelessness  that  are  as  injurious  in  their  consequences 
as  depravity  itself.  It  is  too  much  to  expect  that  pa 
rents,  trained  as  the  negroes  have  been,  will  be  deeply 
interested  in  the  moral  condition  of  their  children. 
Apart  from  any  apology  that  can  be  offered  in  their  be 
half,  it  is  undeniable  that  they  either  do  not  feel  any 
solicitude  about  that  condition  at  all,  or  do  not  feel  it  to 
the  necessary  degree.  The  average  father  and  mother 
are  morally  obtuse  and  indifferent,  and  at  times  even 
openly  and  unreservedly  licentious.  Their  character  is 
such,  by  the  force  of  nature  or  circumstances,  that  they 
havei no  just  conception  of  the  parental  obligation  or  the 
onerous  duties  that  it  should  lay  upon  them  in  the 
course  of  their  daily  lives.  The  children  have  come 
into  the  world  by  the  operation  of  an  instinct,  and  the 
burden  which  their  rearing  imposes  is  borne  as  thought 
lessly  as  that  instinct  itself  was  indulged.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  notable  traits  of  the  individual  of  the  race  that  he 
does  not  look  forward  when  his  own  interests  would  seem 
to  require  him  to  do  so,  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
his  mind  would  turn  to  the  future  more  readily  for  sake 
of  his  offspring,  even  if  he  were  capable  of  appreciating 
the  effect  of  early  training  on  the  whole  tenor  of  after- 


6      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

life.  He  is  not  likely  to  act  in  one  way  with  the  young 
and  in  another  with  himself.  In  both  cases  his  thoughts 
do  not  wander  beyond  the  present.  For  sake  of  per 
sonal  convenience  merely,  he  is  compelled  to  enforce  a 
certain  measure  of  discipline  in  his  household,  but  it  is, 
as  a  rule,  done  in  a  way  that  deprives  it  of  an  elevating 
influence.  In  neither  of  the  parents,  indeed,  when  it 
becomes  necessary  to  rebuke  or  chastise  their  children, 
in  order  to  insure  a  mere  temporary  good,  do  we  gener 
ally  find  such  deportment  as  will  strike  home  a  lesson 
that  will  redound  to  the  permanent  welfare  of  mind  and 
heart  by  accustoming  both  to  the  pressure  of  steady  but 
reasonable  restraint.  In  only  too  many  instances  the 
tendency  of  the  parents  is  to  punish  a  slight  indiscretion 
and  to  overlook  a  serious  offense  altogether,  the  usual 
consequence  of  which  is,  that  the  seeds  of  demoralization 
are  sown  in  the  receptive  intelligence  of  their  offspring 
at  the  hearth,  where  those  lessons  only  should  be  taught 
which  bear  in  after-life  that  noble  fruit  that  separates  a 
civilized  human  being  from  a  grovelling  beast. 

As  a  rule,  the  negroes  are  not  unkind  in  their  general 
bearing  as  parents,  since  they  are  to  a  certain  extent  a 
genial  and  amiable  people  ;  harshness  and  severity  on 
their  part  proceed  as  much  from  mere  impulsiveness  as 
from  a  determination  to  be  brutal  and  merciless.  They 
frequently  speak  in  a  loud  and  threatening  way  to  their 
children,  and  are  often  rough  and  cruel  ;  but  observing 
their  behavior  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  they  are 
gentler,  on  the  whole,  than  would  have  been  anticipated 
of  the  members  of  a  race  that  has  always  shown  so  little 
ability  to  use  any  form  of  power  with  wisdom  and  modera 
tion.  (The  principal  ground  for  criticism  in  their  inter 
course  with  their  offspring  is,  that  they  are  not  discrimi- 


PARENT  AND   CHI 


nating  in  their  treatment,  and  not  able  to  pursue  any 
course  of  conduct  permanently,  however  necessary  that 
course  may  be  ;  an  inability  to  follow  out  a  single  plan  of 
action  for  any  length  of  time  being  one  of  the  most  striking 
characteristics  of  their  raoe^/  To  keep  a  careful  guard 
over  their  children  would  be  vexatious  and  tedious,  as  it 
would  require  prolonged  watchfulness  and  ceaseless  atten 
tion  to  the  smallest  details.  All  this  is  foreign  to  the  temper 
of  the  negro,  however  excellent  his  intentions  as  a  parent 
might  be.  His  nature  is  careless  and  indifferent  ;  he  is 
too  capricious  to  persist  in  the  same  line  of  deportment, 
and  too  shifting  and  irresolute  in  his  purposes  to  interest 
himself  continuously  in  any  one  thing.  The  children  of 
the  most  respectable  parents  suffer  in  consequence,  being 
allowed  to  grow  up  without  steady  instruction  in  lessons 
of  propriety  and  morality,  and  to  that  extent  to  mature 
in  a  state  of  nature,  their  original  characters  expanding 
in  accord  with  their  inherent  bent,  unmodified  by  any 
form  of  continuous  training. 

In  one  respect,  however,  the  parents  do  show  a  marked 
interest  in  the  condition  of  their  children  ;  they  are  anx 
ious  that  the  latter  shall  attend  school,  and  always  require 
them  to  do  so,  unless  the  children  cannot  be  dispensed 
with  about  the  house.  In  this  the  parents  are  governed 
by  several  motives,  and  the  advantage  of  educating  their 
sons  and  daughters  for  their  own  individual  welfare  in 
life  has  perhaps  less  weight  in  the  premises  than  other 
reasons.  The  negro  attaches  an  almost  superstitious 
value  to  such  instruction  ;  he  exalts  the  idea  as  if  it  were 
that  of  a  fetich  ;  it  calls  up  a  vague  conception  to  his 
mind  that  is  pregnant  with  manifold  but  ill-defined  bene 
fits.  At  heart  he  believes  that  illiteracy  is  the  principal 
cause  of  the  negro's  social  inferiority  to  the  white  man, 


8       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

and  he  attributes  to  school  instruction  a  marvellous 
power  of  removing  this  inferiority.  He  looks  upon  edu 
cation,  therefore,  as  a  means  of  bringing  his  offspring, 
and  through  his  offspring  himself  and  his  race,  nearer  to 
the  social  position  of  white  people  ;  and  he  is  actuated 
more  by  this  sentiment  on  the  whole  than  by  a  lively 
concern  in  the  development  of  the  mind  of  the  child 
irrespective  of  the  latter's  relations  with  society  at  large.1 
Attendance  upon  school  is  perhaps  beneficial  to  that 
child  in  the  physical  restraint  to  which  it  forces  him  to 
submit  for  the  time  being,  but  unfortunately  the  annual 
session  does  not  extend  over  many  months,  and,  further 
more,  the  scholars  are  withdrawn  at  an  age  when  they 
are  most  impatient  of  constraint,  and,  consequently,  when 
they  stand  peculiarly  in  need  of  the  strictest  discipline. 
They  probably  do  not  remain  long  enough  to  receive  any 
general  impression  that  will  affect  them  throughout  their 
future.  The  elementary  knowledge  which  they  acquire 
there  is  undoubtedly  useful  to  them  ;  but  the  confine 
ment  of  the  school,  so  far  from  cultivating  steadiness  of 
character,  seems  to  make  them  more  eager  to  shake  off 
all  restriction  as  they  grow  older  ;  it  certainly  does  not 
cause  them  to  be  less  restive  under  the  reins  of  the 
parental  authority  and  less  determined  to  escape  from  it 
as  soon  as  they  can. 

There  is  little  in  that  general  society  in  which  the  chil 
dren  move,  and  of  which  they  must  take  the  form  and 
pressure,  to  foster  self-repression  in  their  natures. 
Even  if  the  domestic  life  of  the  cabin  was  as  pure  and 
elevating  in  its  influence  as  it  should  be,  then  the  spirit 

1  The  importance  which  the  negro  attaches  to  education  is  also 
due,  in  some  measure,  to  that  imitative  spirit  which  leads  him  to 
adopt  so  many  of  the  customs  of  the  whites. 


PARENT  AND   CHILD.  '  Q 

of  the  community  around  them  would  do  much  to  lessen 
the  beneficial  effect  of  that  influence.  Few  lessons  are 
to  be  learned  in  this  atmosphere  that  inculcate  propriety 
of  conduct  and  refinement  in  behavior  ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  child  is  too  apt  to  learn  there  much  that  is  calculated 
to  make  him  dishonest,  much  that  encourages  him  to 
give  full  rein  to  his  various  impulses  and  passions,  and 
thus  to  defy  the  restraining  force  of  every  right  princi 
ple.  In  short,  that  unwholesome  atmosphere  is  likely  to 
give  such  a  tone  to  the  child's  mind  that  it  is  impossible 
for  him  to  lead  a  strictly  upright  life  when  he  arrives  at 
maturity.  Each  community  is  but  an  aggregation  of 
ignorant  homes,  and  each  home  is  but  a  circle  of  thought 
less  individuals.  Far  too  many  members  of  the  older 
generations  set  a  demoralizing  example,  by  showing  little 
appreciation  in  word  and  action  alike  for  order,  cleanli 
ness,  temperance,  continence,  veracity,  and  integrity. 
The  persons  to  whom  the  children  should  look  up  for 
guidance  and  instruction,  and  in  whose  footsteps  they 
should  be  able  to  follow  safely,  too  often  inspire  them 
only  with  a  more  capricious  and  restless  spirit.  The 
consequence  is  that  those  who  should  be  the  hope  of 
their  race  as  the  future  representatives  of  its  capacity,  its 
industry,  and  its  virtue,  promise  to  be  less  respectable 
than  their  fathers,  who  were  trained  in  the  harsh  school 
of  slavery.  The_general  freedom  has  fostered  a  growing 
impatience  of  restraint  in  the  young.  As  soon  as  a  youth 
reaches  the  age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  he  begins  to 
chafe  even  under  the  lax  parental  authority  ;  every  kind 
of  discipline  galls  him  beyond  endurance  ;  a  settled 
occupation  is  especially  obnoxious  and  distasteful  to 
him,  as  he  shrinks  from  an  uninterrupted  employment  of 
his  energies.  He  is  assured  that  he  can  earn  a  liveli- 


1 6      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

hood  without  difficulty  by  casual  and  temporary  contracts, 
and,  therefore,  he  is  anxious  to  confine  himself  to  inter 
mittent  and  irregular  labor.  The  planters  are  so  well 
aware  of  this  inclination  on  his  part  that  they  are  indis 
posed  to  engage  him  by  the  year,  since  he  is  not  the  less 
likely  to  slip  away  without  warning,  because  he  is  still 
under  the  guardianship  of  his  parents.  Whoever  among 
them  gives  him  work  places  little  reliance  upon  his  prom 
ise  to  adhere  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement  into  which 
his  father  or  mother  may  have  entered,  in  his  behalf,  as 
there  are  no  secondary  means  of  enforcing  the  stipula 
tions.  The  promptings  of  self-interest,  idleness,  or 
caprice  will  cause  him  to  throw  the  hoe  down  in  the 
fields  and  depart  without  serving  any  notice  on  his  em 
ployer  or  without  even  informing  his  parents.  As  it  is 
necessary  for  the  security  of  certain  crops  that  there 
should  be  a  full  force  of  laborers  to  work  them  at  stated 
seasons,  or  manipulate  them  after  they  have  been  gath 
ered  and  stored  away  in  the  barns,  this  unsteadiness  and 
unreliability  always  do  great  harm  if  displayed  at  a  crit 
ical  hour.  They  cast  a  dark  shadow  over  the  prospects 
of  the  generation  of  negroes  who  have  been  brought  up 
wholly  under  the  influence  of  the  new  order  of  things. 

In  justice  to  the  parents  it  must  be  said  that  they  are 
very  much  opposed  to  the  unsteady  and  roving  disposi 
tion  of  their  sons,  although  it  is  largely  ascribable  to 
their  defective  training  ;  but  this  opposition  is  not  based 
upon  sentimental  reasons  alone.  To  them  the  wages  of 
their  children  properly  belong  until  the  latter  come  of 
age  or  marry.  As  it  is,  the  parents  have  to  bear  the  ex 
pense  and  incur  the  trouble  of  bringing  up  their  sons 
only  to  see  them  break  away  for  unknown  parts,  just  at 
the  time  when  they  are  old  and  strong  enough  to  assist 


PARENT  AND   CHILD.  II 

in  eking  out  the  support  of  the  family  by  the  money 
which  they  can  earn  by  working  in  the  fields. 

The  girls,  on  the  other  hand,  are  more  easily  managed, 
after  a  certain  age,  than  the  boys,  because  more  amena 
ble  to  physical  restraint.  The  character  of  their  sex 
puts  a  check  upon  their  conduct  in  certain  respects  in 
which  their  brothers  are  most  ungovernable  ;  in  other 
words,  they  are  less  restive,  because  they  are  weaker  and 
more  timid.  Necessarily  they  are  not  so  much  at  liberty 
to  shape  their  lives  as  they  please  as  they  approach 
maturity,  and  even  if  they  had  that  inclination  to  roam 
which  is  shown  by  the  boys,  which  they  have  not,  it 
would  not  be  in  their  power  to  gratify  it.  The  relation 
between  the  girls  and  their  fathers  and  mothers  is  gentler 
and  more  intimate,  and  as  they  are  very  useful  in  the 
household  they  are  more  highly  valued  and  appreciated. 
Whatever  wages  they  can  earn  belong  to  their  parents. 
They  can  take  no  part  in  the  roughest  labor  of  the  plan 
tations,  but  at  certain  seasons,  when  the  wheat  harvest, 
for  instance,  is  in  progress,  or  the  corn  is  being  planted, 
or  the  tobacco  stripped,  many  of  them  are  regularly  em 
ployed,  and  are  paid  well  for  their  work.  These  are 
then  found  in  the  fields  or  barns  at  all  hours  of  the  day, 
and,  to  the  extent  of  their  physical  strength,  are  as  good 
hands  as  males  of  the  same  age.  During  the  greater 
portion  of  the  year,  however,  all  of  the  girls  are  entirely 
disengaged,  this  long  interval  being  spent  in  idleness  or 
in  assisting  in  the  ordinary  domestic  routine  of  the 
cabin.  Unfortunately,  their  mothers  do  not  endeavor  to 
teach  them,  systematically,  those  moral  lessons  that  they 
peculiarly  need  as  members  of  the  female  sex  ;  they 
learn  to  sew  in  a  rude  way,  to  wash,  to  iron,  and  to  cook, 
but  no  principle  is  steadily  instilled  that  makes  them 


12       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

solicitous  and  resolute  to  preserve  their  reputations  un 
tarnished.  Chastity  is  a  virtue  which  the  parents  do  not 
seem  anxious  to  foster  and  guard  in  their  daughter  ;  she 
has  no  abiding  sense  of  personal  purity  in  consequence, 
and  the  anticipation  of  the  possible  consequences  of  in 
discretion  does  not  appear  to  intervene  to  influence  her 
to  be  circumspect  in  her  behavior.  The  truth  is  that  the 
only  very  serious  consequence  is  physical,  there  being 
unhappily  no  stem  sentiment  even  in  her  immediate 
family  to  condemn  her.  This  looseness  in  the  sexual 
relations  does  not  lower  her  general  disposition  as  much 
as  might  be  supposed,  for  she  is  remarkable  for  a  certain 
cheerfulness  of  spirit  and  amiability  of  temper  that  par 
tially  redeem  her  from  the  charge  of  occasional  inconti 
nence.  In  those  other  essentials  of  character  that  are 
the  basis  of  esteem,  and  which  should  be  enforced  upon 
the  consideration  of  children,  male  and  female  alike,  the 
daughter  is,  as  a  rule,  as  undeveloped  as  the  son  ;  and 
not  unnaturally,  since  the  usual  examples  of  her  own  sex 
that  come  within  the  daily  range  of  her  observation,  even 
in  the  precincts  of  her  father's  dwelling,  are  not  such  as 
to  lead  her  to  cultivate  these  traits  to  a  considerable 
degree. 

The  intercourse  between  parents  and  children,  after 
the  latter  have  established  homes  and  have  families  of 
their  own,  is  not,  as  a  rule,  very  intimate  and  constant, 
even  when  they  live  quite  near  together,  but  nevertheless 
the  relation  is  not  ignored.  The  negro  is  often  cruel 
and  generally  callous,  but  still  he  has  more  warmth  of 
heart  than  is  usually  found  in  individuals  of  other  races 
equally  ignorant,  and  while  it  is  very  improbable  that  he 
will  inconvenience  himself  or  sacrifice  his  interests  to 
serve  father  or  mother  when  the  latter  are  embarrassed, 


PARENT  AND   CHILD.  13 

yet  he  will  show  occasionally  that  he  is  not  unmindful  of 
their  existence.  It  must  be  recollected  in  his  favor  that 
he  has  a  heavy  burden  to  carry  in  supporting  his  own 
children  ;  all  that  he  can  earn  is  thus  expended,  and 
therefore,  even  though  he  had  the  proper  impulse,  he 
could  give  but  little  material  assistance  to  his  parents  if 
the  latter  were  to  seek  it.  The  life  which  the  members 
of  both  sexes  lead,  whether  idle  or  laborious,  is  not  such 
as  to  foster  in  their  dispositions  the  growth  of  any  kind 
of  sentimentality,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  should 
weaken  and  even  destroy  the  filial  tie  altogether.  If 
they  ever  dwell  upon  the  past,  their  memories  of  their 
early  years  in  the  cabin  would  not,  perhaps,  arouse  an 
emotion  of  filial  gratitude,  but  this  does  not  color  their 
view  of  their  relation  to  their  parents  in  after-life  at  all. 
Their  thoughts  rarely  revert  to  what  has  gone  before,  of 
their  own  accord  ;  even  if  the  contrary  were  true,  many 
would  probably  recall  a  harsh  parent  with  as  much 
honor  as  a  kind  and  gentle  one,  for  there  is  nothing  that 
the  average  negro  seems  to  respect  so  much  as  force, 
whether  unscrupulous  or  not.  The  freedmen  of  the 
present  day  do  not  disclose  by  their  bearing  toward  a 
former  master  who  conducted  himself  with  extreme 
harshness  and  injustice  to  them  when  slaves  that  they 
resent  the  rough  and  unprincipled  usage  to  which  they 
were  then  compelled  to  submit.  Among  the  white  men 
who  are  most  popular  with  the  negroes  are  those  who 
used  to  have  this  evil  reputation  as  slaveholders  ;  and 
so  it  is  with  a  father  and  mother  who  were  severe  to  their 
children  when  young.  If  the  children  neglect  their 
parents,  it  is  because  they  are  oblivious  of  the  filial 
obligation,  and  not  because  they  are  moved  by  a  sense 
of  injury  ;  and  if  their  parents  had  heaped  upon  them 


14      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

every  benefit,  the  children  would  probably  be  equally  as 
indifferent.  They  do  not  always  think  that  natural  duty 
alone  should  prompt  them  to  be  attentive  and  useful  to 
their  parents  whenever  they  can  be  ;  nor  do  the  parents 
on  their  side  confidently  expect  to  receive  any  help  from 
their  offspring,  and  if  pinched  in  old  age  by  extreme  poverty 
they  are  less  inclined  on  the  whole  to  appeal  to  a  son  or 
daughter,  however  prosperous  and  unhampered,  than  to 
the  planter  who  owned  them  before  they  were  freed.  It 
is  not  until  the  last  scene  in  the  humble  drama  of  their 
lives  is  reached  that  their  children  are  invariably  inter 
ested  in  their  fate.  The  sensibilities  of  the  former  are 
touched  at  once  by  the  prospect  of  the  early  death  of 
father  or  mother,  even  if  they  had  felt  no  special  concern 
about  the  temporary  condition  of  either.  Every  super 
stitious  emotion  in  their  breasts  is  aroused,  and  they  dis 
play  a  morbid  solicitude  that  assumes  the  form  of  the  most 
violent  grief  when  the  parent  finally  dies.  The  intensity 
of  their  sorrow  is  expressed  in  many  ways,  even  if  it  had 
happened  that  they  had  abandoned  the  dead  parent  alto 
gether  before  his  or  her  last  illness  ;  but  this  is  only  one 
of  the  numerous  inconsistencies  that  distinguish  the 
negro  in  every  relation  of  life  ;  for  he  flies  from  one  ex 
treme  to  another  so  fast  that  we  condemn  and  praise 
him,  despise  and  pity  him,  like  and  dislike  him,  all  at  the 
same  instant  of  time. 


II. 

HUSBAND   AND   WIFE. 

PASSING  to  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  and  inci 
dentally  to  the  more  general  relation  of  the  sexes,  I  enter 
upon  the  examination  of  that  part  of  my  subject  in  which 
•the  plantation  negro  appears  in  the  most  unfavorable 
light,  and  which,  therefore,  cannot  be  discussed  with 
freedom  and  accuracy  without  some  appearance  of  harsh 
ness  and  cruelty.  When  he  has  an  opportunity  of  grati 
fying  his  physical  appetit&s,  which  are  the  more  vigorous 
and  impetuous  the  more  feeble  his  intellect,  he  generally 
acts  as  if  he  had  no  conscience  at  all,  and  no  fear,  either 
of  the  serious  consequences  which  his  thoughtlessness 
may  inevitably  bring  upon  him  ;  his  mind  being  so  little 
able  to  form  any  just  notion  of  these  consequences,  how 
ever  grave,  that  he  does  not  seem  even  to  anticipate  or 
calculate  them.  He  gives  way  to  his  lowest  physical 
propensities  with  as  much  mental  serenity  and  self- 
abandonment  as  if  they  were  innocent,  although  he  may 
lay  himself  open  thereby  to  very  severe  punishment. 
J^/leed,  the  plantation  negro  is  as  much  a  child  of  nature 
n-w,  however  civilizing  the  influences  that  surround 
him,  as  if  he  had  just  been  transported  from  the  shores 

his  original  continent.  He  apparently  sees  no  immo- 
n*Ay  in  doing  what  nature  prompts  him  to  do,  whether 
he  thus  encroaches  upon  the  absolute  rights  of  others  or 
not,  for  differences  of  title  in  those  things  which  he 

15 


/ 


1 6      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

believes  were  created  for  all  are  not  generally  accepted 
by  him  as  adjudicated  facts  ;  as  a  rule,  he  bears  himself 
towards  such  kinds  of  property  as  if  there  were  no  differ 
ences  of  ownership  in  them  whatever.  In  the  sexual 
relations  this  insensibility  and  want  of  self-control  are 
exhibited  to  a  very  remarkable  degree,  for  the  procrea- 
tive  instinct  being  the  most  passionate  that  nature  has 
implanted  in  his  body,  it  is  unscrupulous  in  proportion. 
Before  it  all  the  barriers  which  society  has  raised  in  the 
instance  of  the  white  race,  and  with  which  it  also  en' 
deavors  to  restrain  the  negro,  go  down  as  if  they  had  no 
power  of  thwarting  his  determination  to  gratify  it. 

Slavery  certainly  transmitted  no  influence  to  the  pres 
ent  day  that  is  calculated  to  moderate  this  instinct.  That 
system  debased  both,  man  and  woman  by  making  true 
marriage  impossible,  and  in  deing  this  it  tempted  both 
sexes  to  revert  to  the  natural  relations  of  mere  temporary 
impulse  and  convenience.  Continence  and  chastity  could 
not  well  be  fostered  and  encouraged  under  it,  as  it  was 
opposed,  in  its  first  principles,  to  wholesome  sentiment  in 
the  family,  and  even  to  the  existence  of  home  itself, 
which  is  the  only  fortification  against  promiscuous  inter 
course.  [However  faithfully  both  members  of  the  couple 
might  observe  the  marital  obligations,  their  union  could 
amount  only  to  a  passing  arrangement  as  long  as  their 
owner  had  the  power  to  sell  either  at  any  moment  that 
his  interests  moved  him  to  do  so]  The  possibility  of 
such  rupture,  followed  by  a  final  separation,  was(enough 
in  itself  to  weaken,  or  at  least  to  embitter,  the  relation, 
however  firmly  cemented  apparently  by  affection  and  the 
birth  of  childrenJ  Marriage  under  the  old  regime  was 
very  like  unlawful  cohabitation  under  the  new,  only  that 
the  master,  by  the  power  he  had,  compelled  the  nominal 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE.  IJ 

husband  and  wife  to  live  together  permanently.  They 
were  not  allowed  to  fly  apart  as  they  wished,  and  to 
assume  a  similar  relation  with  other  persons  ;  an  ordi 
nary  regard  for  public  opinion,  or  the  mere  necessity  of 
maintaining  order  and  discipline  on  his  estate  causing 
the  planter  to  prevent  this  as  far  as  he  could,  whether 
he  was  indifferent  to  it  on  the  score  of  personal  respon 
sibility  or  not. 

Although  the  institution  of  slavery  did  nothing  to 
raise  the  dignity  of  marriage  or  to  improve  the  relation 
of  the  sexes,  it  restricted  illicit  commerce  among  the 
negroes  in  some  measure,  because  it  restrained  their 
general  conduct.  Before  emancipation  they  had  far  less 
liberty  of  action  in  every  way,  necessarily  ;  they  were 
not  permitted  then  to  associate  in  that  unembarrassed 
fashion  which  their  social  and  cheerful  dispositions  pre 
ferred,  and  which,  now  that  they  are  free,  they  cultivate 
so  assiduously  and  with  so  much  pleasure.  On  the  con 
trary,  all  their  movements  were  then  closely  watched, 
and  whether  innocent  or  not,  were  followed  with  more  or 
less  suspicion.  They  were  especially  discouraged  from 
wandering  about  much  at  night  or  mingling  in  large  con 
gregations  ;  thus  their  opportunities  of  falling  into  lewd 
habits  were  diminished,  although  the  inclination  to  do  so 
remained  unchanged.  The  personal  independence  of 
the  present  day  shows  how  powerful  this  inclination 
really  was,  in  spite  of  the  check  that  was  put  upon  it  by 
the  systematic  repression  of  slavery.  It  is  not  now  reined 
in  by  circumstances  at  all,  and  the  consequence  is  that  it 
is  gratified  to  such  a  degree  that  lasciviousness  has  done 
more  than  all  the  other  vices  of  the  plantation  negroes 
united,  to  degrade  the  character  of  their  social  life 
since  they  were  invested  with  citizenship.  It  is  in  this 


1 8       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

direction  that  they  seem  to  be  tending  most  certainly 
to  a  state  of  nature,  and  many  influences  are  hasten 
ing  the  event.  In  the  first  place,  they  show  a  dis 
position  to  withdraw  as  far  as  possible  from  white 
people,  and  to  ignore  the  social  laws  of  the  latter,  which 
signifies  their  complete  removal  from  the  pressure  of  a 
wholesome  public  sentiment ;  in  the  second  place,  the 
[^increasing  restlessness  of  the  individual  negro  causes 
him  to  entertain  a  growing  feeling  of  opposition  to  reg 
ular  marriage,  since  it  compels  him  to  settle  in  one  spot, 
and  imposes  on  him  the  necessity  of  supporting  wife  and 
children.  As  long  as  he  can  form  an  illicit  connection 
for  whatever  length  of  time  he  chooses,  he  is  not  anx 
ious  to  purchase  a  license,  for  this  will  fix  a  permanent 
obligation  upon  hirnj  The  very  cost  of  it,  small  as  it  is, 
is  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  legal  union.  If  an  annual 
poll  tax  of  one  dollar  will  disfranchise  a  great  many 
negroes  in  every  community  by  their  inability  to  pay  it, 
the  expense  of  marriage  licenses  will  virtually  prevent 
others,  so  improvident  is  the  character  of  the  race,  from 
entering  into  the  bonds  of  lawful  matrimony  ;  or  it  will 
at  least  prompt  them  to  dispense  with  the  license  alto 
gether  as  practically  unnecessary. 

The  general  incontinence  of  the  negroes  is  very  much 
increased,  too,  by  the  fact  that  intrigue  is  one  of  the  few 
amusements  which  they  have  to  quicken  their  lives.  It 
gives  a  savor  to  a  flat  existence  passed  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  secluded  surroundings  which  it  would  not  other 
wise  have  ;  and  it  is  on  this  account,  as  well  as  because 
they  are  naturally  genial,  that  they  celebrate  their  vari 
ous  entertainments  and  reunions  with  so  much  spirit. 
These  are  frequently  distinguished  for  low  debauchery, 
which  encourages  a  course  of  subsequent  intercourse  and 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE.  19 

association  that  breaks  down  the  last  barrier  between  the 
sexes,  the  effect  being  peculiarly  demoralizing  to  the 
character  of  the  women,  who  properly  should  be  bul 
warks  of  sobriety  and  conservatism  to  the  society  in 
which  they  move,  whereas  they  are  in  general  the  flood 
gates  of  the  corrupting  sexual  influences  that  are  doing 
so  much  to  sap  and  destroy  it.  /The  number  of  illegiti 
mate  children  born  to  unmarried  negresses  is  becoming 
greater  every  year,  but  this,  instead  of  being  a  lasting 
stain  on  their  reputations  or  a  stumbling-block  in  the 
path  of  their  material  thrift,  is  an  advantage  when  re 
garded  from  a  practical  point  of  view.  If  these  children 
have  come  to  an  age  when  they  are  old  enough  to  work, 
then  they  constitute  a  valuable  dowry  to  whoever  marry 
their  mothers,  such  women  occupying  somewhat  the 
position  of  widows  with  considerable  property  at  their 
command,  which  they  confer  absolutely  upon  their  hus 
bands  at  the  hour  of  marriagj.  In  reality,  a  life  of  gal 
lantry  on  the  part  of  the  females  before  that  hour, 
whether  it  has  its  consummation  in  natural  children  or 
not,  cannot  be  said  to  jar  upon  the  sensibilities  of  the 
men  in  general,  for  they  have  apparently  no  sense  of 
delicacy  here.  As  a  rule,  they  marry  the  most  indis 
creet  of  the  other  sex  with  as  much  unconscious  satis 
faction  as  the  purest,  and,  on  the  whole,  they  are  not  as 
scrupulous  as  they  should  be  as  to  whether  they  them 
selves  or  their  intimate  friends  were  parties  to  the  ante 
nuptial  sexual  irregularities  of  their  wives.  This  state 
of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  men  with  respect  to  the  con 
duct  of  the  women  they  marry,  is  very  injurious  to  the 
moral  tone  of  the  unmarried  women,  for  it  removes  the 
most  powerful  influence  that  could  be  brought  to  bear  to 
make  them  prudent,  inasmuch  as  the  thoughtless  and 


20      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

wanton  can  secure  husbands  with  the  same  ease  as  the 
virtuous  and  circumspect.  A  plantation  negress  may 
have  sunk  to  a  low  point  in  the  scale  of  sensual 
indulgence,  and  yet  her  position  does  not  seem  to 
be  substantially  affected  even  in  the  estimation  of  the 
women  of  her  own  race,  who,  it  would  be  supposed,  if 
we  followed  the  analogy  of  women  of  all  other  races 
wholly  or  partially  civilized,  would  be  even  unjustly 
severe  on  her  contempt  for  decency.  In  those  numerous 
quarrels  that  agitate  the  intercourse  of  the  plantation 
women,  one  who  is  peculiarly  open  to  reproach  on  ac 
count  of  her  lewdness,  is  more  frequently  reviled  for  the 
color  of  her  skin  than  made  the  target  of  the  foulest  epi 
thet  that  can  be  launched  at  a  woman.  The  truth  is 
that  neither  the  women  nor  the  men  as  a  mass  look  upon 
lasciviousness  as  impurity,  and,  therefore,  it  is  not  a 
ground  of  rebuke  or  a  subject  for  gibes  or  sneers,  or  a 
justification  for  an  assumption  of  superiority  in  those 
who  are  comparatively  chaste.  This  freedom  of  physical 
commerce  is  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course  by  the  great 
majority  of  the  members  of  both  sexes,  unless,  in  some 
special  case,  it  results  in  a  conflict  of  claims  ;  then  it 
frequently  leads  to  crime  in  the  first  moments  of  violent 
anger,  but  rarely  if  the  object  of  that  anger  can  escape 
until  the  gust  of  passion  has  blown  over.  Far  more 
often,  however,  it  is  simply  a  cause  of  the  most  extrava 
gant  verbal  engagements,  that  terminate  peaceably  when 
the  power  of  lung  and  tongue  have  been  exhausted, 
which  only  happens  generally  after  an  extraordinary 
length  of  time  has  elapsed  ;  familiar  and  intimate  rela 
tions  are  then  resumed,  to  be  amicably  maintained  until 
a  new  occasion  for  complaint  has  arisen. 

Marriage,  however  solemnly  contracted  and  however 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE.  21 

public  the  religious  ceremony  sanctioning  it,  does  not 
wholly  hamper  the  sexual  liberty  of  either  of  the  parties. 
The  wife,  as  a  rule,  is  as  innocently  unconscious  as  the 
husband  that  both  have  entered  into  a  mutual  pledge  to 
be  faithful  to  the  vows  that  they  have  pronounced.  To 
them,  the  ceremony  is  a  form  which  sentimentally  means 
little,  and  practically  signifies  only  that  the  woman  shall 
attend  to  all  household  duties  and  the  man  shall 
work  and  support  the  family.  Very  unfortunately,  this 
view  is  even  held  by  those  who  are  regarded  as  the 
spiritual  leaders  and  exemplars  of  their  race.  Many  of 
the  plantation  preachers  frequently  offend  against  the 
sacredness  of  their  own  marriages  and  the  marriages  of 
members  of  their  flocks,  and  instead  of  following  that 
course  of  propriety  which  their  position  requires  that  they 
shall  follow,  they  too  often  employ  their  commanding 
influence  to  corrupt  and  lead  astray.  So  leniently  are 
violations  of  the  marriage  oaths  regarded  by  the  negroes, 
that  divorce  is  a  remedy  to  which  they  rarely  have  re 
course.1  The  process  is  so  expensive  that  few  could 
bear  the  cost  except  by  stinting  themselves  and  hoard 
ing  their  wages,  but  if  their  improvidence  did  not  debar 
them  from  turning  to  it,  or  if  the  advantages  of  the  pro 
cess  could  be  obtained  free,  they  would  probably  not 
utilize  it,  for  they  are  as  a  class  quite  insensible  to  that 
principle  of  honor  and  self-respect  which  would  lead  a 
sensitive  husband  or  wife  to  discard  a  partner  as  person 
ally  offensive  because  indifferent  to  the  marital  obliga 
tion  of  chastity.  What  is  considered  to  be  an  imperative 
ground  for  divorce  even  among  the  most  uneducated 
whites,  rarely  induces  the  plantation  negro  couple  to 

1  No  instance  of  such  a  divorce  in  the  rural  districts  has  fallen 
within  the  scope  of  my  own  personal  knowledge. 


22       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

separate  either  for  a  short  or  a  long  time.  However 
gross  the  immoral  act,  it  generally  occasions  only  a  flurry 
of  passionate  anger  against  the  third  person  who  is  a 
party  to  it,  with  husband  or  wife.  Against  the  husband 
himself  or  the  wife,  as  the  case  may  be,  no  permanent 
feeling  of  resentment  seems  to  be  felt. 

The  instance  very  frequently  occurs  of  a  negro  who 
has  deserted  his  wife  in  one  county,  getting,  by  false 
statements,  a  license  to  marry  in  another  county,  and 
there  establishing  a  new  home  with  as  much  coolness  as 
if  he  had  been  single  when  he  obtained  the  second 
license  ;  but  so  accustomed  are  the  whites  to  the  sexual 
freedom  of  their  former  slaves  that  when  it  comes  to 
their  ears  that  a  certain  negro  who  resides  in  their  vicin 
ity  has  two  wives  to  whom  he  is  legally  bound,  living, 
the  rumor,  however  capable  of  substantial  proof,  is  al 
most  always  winked  at  or  not  considered  worthy  of 
investigation.  A  criminal  action  for  bigamy  is  far  rarer 
than  a  civil  action  of  divorce  in  the  contemporary  his 
tory  of  the  race,  although  a  legal  basis  for  it  can  be  so 
often  laid.  Even  when  a  marriage  is  hedged  about 
with  all  the  required  forms  of  law  and  religion,  it  is  dif 
ficult  for  the  guardians  of  the  peace  to  look  upon  its 
illegal  violation  as  a  criminal  offense,  so  lightly  and 
thoughtlessly  do  the  blacks  themselves  regard  the  moral 
obligations  of  the  tie. 

The  marriages  that  take  place  are  generally  contracted 
quite  early  in  the  lives  of  the  parties  to  them,  for  the 
young  men  having  no  capital  but  their  physicat  strength, 
and  not  expecting  to  have  any  other,  are  in  as  good  a 
position  to  support  a  family  when  they  reach  the  age  of 
twenty-one  as  they  are  when  much  older.  There  has  not 
been  sufficient  accumulation  of  property  by  the  negrops 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE.  2$ 

who  are  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  to  make  many  of 
them  more  eligible  in  the  point  of  means  than  those  who 
are  younger.  The  teachers  in  the  public  schools  are 
thought  to  be,  on  the  whole,  the  most  desirable  matches, 
because  they  are  in  receipt  of  salaries  that  seem  enor 
mous  as  compared  with  the  wages  of  an  ordinary  laborer 
in  the  fields,  or  even  a  house  servant,  and  then,  too, 
they  are  men  of  social  eminence  among  the  members  of 
their  race. 

The  weddings  are  celebrated  quite  frequently  with 
boisterous  gayety  and  homely  pomp,  the  shouting  and 
dancing  that  distinguish  them  being  prolonged  until  day 
break,  when  the  guests  reluctantly  disperse.  The  life 
that  follows  marriage  would  seem  to  be  far  more  satis 
factory  to  the  wife  than  to  the  husband,  for  entrance 
upon  it  is  the  signal  to  her  to  leave  off  all  serious  work. 
The  home  into  which  she  is  introduced  is  not  more  com- 
fortabl&  than  the  cabin  of  her  parents  from  which  she 
was  recently  led  to  assume  another  relation,  but  from 
this  time  forward  her  existence  is  freer  and  easier.  Be 
fore  she  was  often  compelled  to  take  part  in  the  opera 
tions  of  the  plantation  at  certain  seasons,  and  the  most 
onerous  tasks  in  the  domestic  management  of  the  paternal 
dwelling  were  put  on  her.  Now  she  is  no  longer  liable  to 
be  thus  employed.  As  a  married  woman  she  regards  it  as 
a  degradation  to  cultivate  the  fields,  and  her  domestic 
duties  are  so  light,  until  her  children  arrive  at  an  age 
when  they  can  relieve  her  altogether,  that  these  duties 
give  no  trouble.  Practically,  therefore,  the  larger  part 
of  her  married  life,  even  in  the  beginning,  is  passed  in 
idleness.  She  is  disposed  to  look  upon  this  as  conduct 
that  becomes  her,  both  because  it  is  very  pleasant  in 
itself  and  because  the  female  members  of  the  prominent 


24       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

white  families  apparently  do  nothing  but  dawdle.  She 
is  encouraged  in  this  view  by  her  husband,  although  he 
thereby  increases  his  own  burdens  ;  for  he  considers  it 
A  improper  for  his  wife  to  abandon  her  fireside  to  work 
with  the  plantation  laborers.  When  the  married  women 
are  observed  thus  engaged  it  is  an  evidence  that  their 
families  are  pinched  by  a  degree  of  poverty  that  over 
rides  inclination  as  well  as  custom.  This  occurs  with 
comparative  infrequency,  however,  since  they  are  pro 
vided  with  all  that  they  need  by  their  husbands  alone, 
who  also  do  all  the  heavy  or  troublesome  jobs  about  the 
cabins,  such  as  digging  the  gardens,  chopping  the  wood, 
and  weeding  the  patches  of  corn  which  they  are  allowed 
to  till.  Under  circumstances  so  favorable  to  their  physi 
cal  ease  and  mental  tranquillity,  the  wives  have  little  to 
occupy  their  attention.  They  do  not  go  abroad  much 
to  vary  their  life  ;  indeed,  the  majority  become  so  indo 
lent  that  they  rarely  move  beyond  their  own  thresholds, 
confining  their  visiting  during  the  week  to  the  different 
houses  of  the  immediate  neighborhood  in  which  they 
dwell.  On  Sunday,  however,  many  are  more  inclined  to 
call  on  friends  and  acquaintances  who  reside  at  a  much 
greater  distance  from  them,  and  they  make  this  the  occa 
sion  for  parading  their  finery.  This  feminine  love  of 
dress  is  shared  by  them  all,  however  ignorant  or  poor, 
but  they  show,  not  unnaturally-,  a  keener  appreciation  of 
gay  splendor  of  hue  than  excellence  of  texture  ;  the 
more  pronounced  and  glaring  the  color,  in  fact,  the 
more  elegant  it  seems  to  their  uncultivated  taste.  When 
thus  arrayed,  their  satisfaction  reaches  the  highest  point 
of  self-contentment,  which  is  exhibited  in  a  complacency 
of  bearing  as  amusing  as  it  is  innocent.  Under  such  trivial 
circumstances  as  these  the  negro's  mental  incongruity  and 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE.  2$ 

dull  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  are  apparent.  A  gaudy 
bonnet  jauntily  set  upon  the  head  of  the  wearer,  though 
the  rest  of  her  apparel  may  be  unusually  plain,  titillates 
her  vanity  as  pleasurably,  and  causes  her  to  walk  with  a"s 
much  stateliness,  as  if  all  her  different  articles  of  clothing 
were  in  keeping  with  the  one  piece  of  ornament,  and  an 
equally  delighted  state  of  feeling  is  raised  by  a  still  more 
insignificant  bit  of  personal  decoration,  she  not  being 
aware  that  there  is  any  thing  out  of  harmony  in  her 
appearance. 

The  average  wife  has  no  keen  appreciation  of  cleanli 
ness.  This  she  discloses  not  only  in  her  own  person,  but 
also  in  the  interior  of  her  home,  over  which,  as  a  wife  and 
mother,  she  has  absolute  control  to  arrange  the  numerous 
objects  and  to  preserve  the  whole  in  such  condition  as 
she  chooses.  The  great  majority  of  cabins  disclose  few 
evidences  of  refinement  in  the  nature  of  her  who  should 
be  the  genius  of  the  best  influences  of  the  household. 
The  truth  is,  that  the  wife  is  inferior  to  the  husband  in 
many  of  the  qualities  of  her  character,  and  this  is  ob 
served  not  only  in  the  domestic  but  also  in  the  general 
relations  of  life.  She  is  more  unbridled,  for  instance,  in 
consequence  of  the  more  independent  existence  she 
leads  as  an  individual  who  is  not  expected  to  do  any  thing 
that  demands  much  exertion  and  self-denial.  She  is 
really  under  the  pressure  of  very  little,  if  any,  restraint. 
Her  husband,  as  an  employee  who  must  conciliate  the 
good-will  of  the  planter  for  whom  he  works  and  submit 
to  all  that  is  required  of  him,  is  far  from  being  at  liberty 
to  act  as  he  pleases  ;  his  poverty  puts  a  check  upon  his 
natural  inclinations  to  a  very  important  degree.  But 
this  is  not  the  position  of  the  wife,  who  is  supported  not 
by  her  own  energy  but  by  the  energy  of  her  husband,  to 


26       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

whom  she  looks  alone  for  a  livelihood,  and  it  is  only 
rarely  that  she  comes  in  contact  with  the  landholder 
from  whom  the  bread  that  sustains  the  lives  of  her  family 
is  indirectly  gotten.  She  is  altogether  removed,  there 
fore,  from  any  repressive  influence  which  the  whites 
might  exercise  over  her  on  close  association. 
/__  While  in  many  instances  the  husband  roughly  domi 
neers  over  the  wife,  yet,  as  a  rule,  the  latter  holds  the 
reins  of  domestic  power,  and  is  fully  able  to  defend  her 
self,  or  even  commit  an  assault  when  his  bearing  seems 
to  justify  Jk/  The  shrewish  temper  and  licentious  tongue 
for  which  she  is  unfortunately  too  often  distinguished, 
make  her  a  formidable  verbal  antagonist,  especially  in  a 
controversy  with  a  member  of  her  own  sex,  and  if  the  oc 
casion  prompts  it,  it  is  probable  that  she  can  successfully 
support  the  fluent  expression  of  her  anger  and  resent 
ment  with  very  vigorous  arms. 

All  those  qualities  that  signify  a  concentration  of  sin 
ister  feeling  are  found  more  fully  developed  in  the  wives 
than  in  the  husbands,  and  their  manner  of  giving  ex 
pression  to  these,  whether  in  word  or  deed,  is  much 
more  forcible  and  reckless  of  consequences,  but  at  the 
same  time  they  are  more  dissimulative  and  secretive 
when  it  is  necessary  to  be  so  to  attain  some  object  which 
they  have  in  view.  Their  moral  influence  over  their  hus 
bands  is  often  pernicious  ;  much  of  the  crime  which  the 
latter  commit  is  secretly  or  openly  instigated  by  the 
wives,  who  frequently  go  so  far  as  to  be  active  accom 
plices  themselves,  in  gross  as  well  as  petty  violations  of 
law.  Unhappily,  many  are  inclined,  too,  to  stimulate 
their  husbands  to  be  insolent  to  the  whites,  and  to  rebel 
against  the  authority  which  employers  have  the  right  to 
exercise  under  contract.  Their  bearing  when  thrown 


HUSBAND  AND  WIFE.  2/ 

with  members  of  the  white  race  is  often  presumptuous, 
when  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  be,  apart  from  the 
spirit  of  antagonism  which  seems  to  have  been  engen 
dered  in  their  own  hearts  ;  and  the  consequence  is 
that  the  whites  avoid  all  intercourse  with  them,  unless 
domestic  servants,  all  communication  being  generally 
held  indirectly.  Although  shrewder  and  more  intelli 
gent  than  their  husbands,  yet  they  are,  on  the  whole, 
more  superstitious,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  the 
principal  supporters  of  the  notorious  trick  doctors,  their 
faith  in  the  occult  powers  of  these  rank  impostors  being 
implicit.  As  their  controversies  among  themselves  are 
carried  on  with  so  much  violence  and  bitterness,  when 
their  animosity  is  thoroughly  aroused,  they  are  eager 
to  turn  to  whatever  will  ensure  gratification  for  their 
vehement  spite  and  resentment,  and  they  are  sunk  low 
enough  in  credulity  to  believe  that  supernatural  agencies 
can  be  compelled  to  intervene  in  their  behalf. 

With  all  her  faults,  and  these  are  numerous  and  in 
some  instances  forbidding,  the  wife  is  generally  kind  in 
sickness.  However  cruel  she  may  be  ordinarily,  and 
however  indifferent  to  many  forms  of  suffering,  she  is 
apt  to  be  attentive  at  the  bedside  of  extreme  illness. 
This  seems  to  be  due  more  to  the  morbidity  that  colors 
all  her  thoughts  of  death,  than  to  tenderness  of  heart ; 
for  her  solicitude  is  characterized  by  an  increasing 
superstitiousness  as  the  life  in  the  dying  person  declines, 
and  it  reaches  its  climax  at  the  end  of  the  last  scene 
when  the  body  is  buried.  The  interest  which  she  feels 
in  all  the  ghastly  details  is  the  source  of  pleasure  to  her, 
without  any  tincture  of  pain  because  they  are  sombre 
and  mournful.  Her  sensibilities  are  touched  in  an 
agreeable  and  not  in  a  harsh  and  discordant  way.  The 


28       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

fact  that  it  is  a  final  parting,  and  therefore  calculated  to 
lacerate  her  feelings,  seems  to  enter  less  into  her  state  of 
mind  under  the  circumstances  than  the  awful  mystery  of 
dissolution  and  the  life  beyond  the  grave  ;  and  the  result 
is  that  the  sickness  of  a  comparative  stranger  concerns 
her  as  much,  and  his  death  makes  her  as  sad  as  if  he 
were  a  close  and  familiar  relative  or  bound  to  her  by 
still  stronger  and  more  intimate  ties.  Whatever  is  the 
cause  of  her  agitation,  it  has  the  same  effect  upon  her 
conduct  as  if  she  were  actuated  by  unalloyed  anxiety 
about  the  condition  of  the  patient,  and  by  genuine  sor 
row,  however  short  the  time  which  it  may  last,  if  he 
dies. 

Such  is  the  general  temper  of  the  wives.  It  is  they 
who  really  mould  the  institution  of  marriage  among  the 
plantation  negroes  ;  to  them  its  present  degradation  is 
chiefly  ascribable,  for  they  are  less  sensible  of  its  differ 
ent  obligations  and  more  ignorant  of  its  true  objects  than 
their  husbands  even.  Until  a  fundamental  change  takes 
place  in  their  character,  there  can  be  no  hope  of  improve 
ment  in  the  observance  by  either  sex  of  this  relation, 
which  is  just  as  vital  as  that  of  parent  and  child.  If 
there  is  any  influence  now  to  originate  and  complete  this 
change,  it  is  difficult  to  discover  it,  and  it  seems  highly 
improbable  that  there  will  be  any  in  the  near  future, 
since  the  women  are  being  further  and  further  withdrawn 
every  year  from  the  means  that  now  exist  of  softening 
and  elevating  their  dispositions. 


III. 

MASTER  AND   SERVANT. 

THE  lavish  hospitality  of  the  planters  in  the  age  of 
slavery  was  due  not  only  to  the  pleasure  that  they  found 
in  entertaining  guests,  but  also  to  the  great  number  of 
servants  which  that  institution  itself  permitted  ;  a  much 
larger  retinue  of  these  was  attached  to  each  residence 
than  the  ordinary  tasks  of  the  household  demanded,  for 
the  cost  of  supporting  domestics  was  so  small  that  the 
luxury  of  having  many,  even  when  a  few  were  sufficient 
to  perform  all  that  was  required  to  be  done,  could  be  in 
dulged  in  without  any  extravagance.  The  reception  of 
as  many  guests  as  the  capacity  of  each  house  allowed 
entailed,  in  reality,  but  little  pecuniary  outlay,  as  the 
plantation  furnished  an  abundance  of  provisions,  and 
but  little  trouble,  as  there  were  servants  enough  to  see 
to  the  wants  of  the  visitors,  however  numerous  or  exact 
ing.  The  result  of  the  war  checked  this  spirit  of  hospi 
tality  at  once,  not  only  because  it  diminished  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  planters,  and  thus  compelled  an  abridg 
ment  of  all  unnecessary  expenses,  but  also  because  it 
put  the  whole  system  of  household  attendance  on  a 
different  footing.  To  have  to  pay  the  servants  in  money 
instead  of  merely  supplying  them  with  food,  clothing, 
and  shelter,  as  formerly,  was  a  new  and  important  addition 
to  the  domestic  burdens  ;  in  consequence  the  number  of 
servants  who  are  hired  under  the  present  regime  for  any 

29 


30       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A    FREEMAN. 

length  of  time  has  been  curtailed  very  much,  but,  never 
theless,  the  number  still  employed  would  be  out  of  pro 
portion  to  the  means  of  the  planters,  if  the  amount  of 
wages  paid  to  them  was  not  comparatively  trivial.  The 
deficiency,  however,  is  covered  by  furnishing  cabins  and 
rations  to  them  free. 

The  spirit  of  the  social  life  of  the  principal  planters  is 
essentially  the  same  as  it  used  to  be  ;  the  old  love  of 
hospitality  has  not  changed  ;  it  is  only  gratified  in  a  sim 
pler  way  than  formerly.  A  great  store  of  provisions  is 
still  drawn  from  the  resources  of  the  plantation  ;  the 
families  of  the  laborers  still  offer  a  latitude  of  choice  in 
the  selection  of  permanent  and  casual  servants,  who  are 
ready  to  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  household  at  low 
rates  of  compensation.  These  show  the  same  desire 
now  as  when  they  were  slaves  to  act  in  this  capacity,  for 
the  life  they  lead  as  such  is  gentler  than  that  of  the 
laborers,  although  more  confining  ;  the  tasks  are  lighter 
and  easier  ;  the  wages  paid  are  higher,  and  there  are 
many  perquisites  that  amount  to  a  considerable  profit  in 
the  course  of  a  year.  They  are  not  insensible,  either,  to 
the  sentimental  distinction  of  the  position  as  compared 
with  that  of  a  hand  in  the  fields  or  an  artisan  in  the 
workshop.  If  the  planters  were  to  advance  in  prosperity, 
the  habits  of  hospitality  that  distinguished  them  before 
the  war  would  be  fully  revived,  and  as  a  result  there 
would  be  as  great  a  demand  for  the  domestic  service  of 
the  negroes  as  ever ;  the  number  that  would  then  be 
found  in  the  principal  residences  would  be  as  large  as  it 
once  was.  This  is  already  observed  in  the  homes  of  the 
wealthiest  planters,  who,  in  the  spirit  of  former  times, 
look  upon  a  retinue  of  servants  as  the  mam  convenience 
secured  by  fortune.  As  they  have  been  accustomed  to 


MASTER  AND   SERVANT.  31 

the  negro  from  childhood,  and  understand  his  character, 
they  prefer  to  employ  him  alone  as  a  servant,  although 
they  are  keenly  aware  of  his  deficiencies,  and  although 
the  influences  of  freedom  have  worked  an  important 
change  in  his  disposition.  They  dislike  white  domestics 
in  comparison,  for  these  demand  a  greater  share  of  con 
sideration,  and  are  more  exacting  in  their  requirements. 
Such  servants  are  unknown  among  them,  both  because  the 
negroes  can  be  engaged  more  cheaply,  and  because  they 
have  degraded  household  service  to  such  an  extent  that 
not  even  individuals  of  the  plainest  and  poorest  class  of 
native  whites  are  willing  to  occupy  such  a  position,  and 
the  white  servants  brought  from  abroad  would  be  so 
isolated  that  they  would  soon  become  discontented  and 
abandon  their  employment. 

As  slaves  the  negroes  played,  on  the  whole,  a  more  im 
portant  because  a  much  more  confidential  part  than  they 
do  now  in  the  sacred  associations  of  the  family  circle  of 
their  master  and  the  principal  events  of  his  family  his 
tory.  Their  fidelity  and  docility  and  the  gentleness  and 
indulgence  with  which  they  were  generally  treated,  soft 
ened  the  aspect  of  that  extreme  power  which  he  had  of 
moulding  their  destinies  according  to  his  own  interest  or 
caprice.  Their  fundamental  relation  to  him  was  such 
that  they  had  little  identity  apart  from  his,  and  few 
memories  other  than  those  which  had  been  impressed 
upon  their  minds  in  his  household.  All  that  occurred  in 
their  lives  without  the  boundary  of  those  familiar  pre 
cincts  was  of  far  less  significance  to  them  than  what  hap 
pened  within  it.  There  the  chief  portion  of  the  twenty- 
four  hours  of  each  day  was  spent ;  there  they  passed 
from  youth  to  old  age,  and  when  they  grew  too  infirm  to 
perform  their  usual  duties,  they  were  supported  until 


32       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

they  died,  but  in  the  interval  they  frequently  revisited 
the  house  to  which  they  had  been  so  long  accustomed,  or 
they  themselves  were  visited  by  its  inmates. 

This  spirit  of  loyal  affection,  which  had  its  growth  in 
the  peculiar  influences  of  slavery  alone,  animates  a  few 
of  this  older  class,  who  still  retain  their  situations  in  the 
households  of  the  planters.  Their  disposition  towards  the 
latter  has  not  changed  now  that  they  are  paid  monthly 
wages  instead  of  receiving  as  formerly  the  mere  neces 
saries  of  life  for  their  work.  Their  conduct  towards 
their  masters  is  marked  by  a  cheerful  submission, 
mingled  with  an  emotion  of  strong  attachment  that  leads 
them  to  unite  their  fortunes  with  those  of  the  white 
families  with  whom  they  live,  as  completely  and  uncon 
sciously  as  if  the  tie  was  permanent  and  obligatory  and 
not,  as  it  is,  temporary  and  optional.  This  number,  how 
ever,  is  small,  and  is  diminishing  every  year  in  the 
course  of  nature.  The  individuals  who  take  their  places 
are  more  responsive  to  the  influences  of  the  present  age, 
either  because  they  belong  to  the  generation  that  has 
grown  up  since  the  war,  or  because  they  have  broken 
away  from  the  authority  of  that  past  which  has  already 
sunk  into  a  tradition.  Even  where  there  would  seem  to 
be  many  local  influences  resembling  those  that  prevailed 
in  the  age  of  slavery  to  draw  master  and  servant  into  the 
same  social  relations  that  they  then  held  to  each  other, 
there  is  plainly  observable  a  great  difference  of  spirit 
under  the  kindness  of  the  one  and  the  subserviency  of  the 
other.  All  the  numerous  and  perplexing  responsibilities 
of  proprietorship  in  the  body  of  the  servant  as  a  slave 
were  destroyed  at  a  stroke  when  that  servant  was  eman 
cipated.  With  the  extinction  of  these  responsibilities 
there  passed  away  as  a  part  of  the  ancient  system  much 


MASTER  AND   SERVANT.  33 

of  that  personal  interest  which  the  master  had  felt  in  the 
servant  as  an  individual  who  was  dependent  on  him  and 
who  must  be  directed  in  the  most  intimate  affairs  of  his 
private  life.  When  the  negro  became  a  citizen,  the 
identity  of  his  fortunes  with  those  of  his  master  was 
broken  ;  with  the  divergence  of  their  destinies  a  new  re 
lation  arose,  which,  while  it  was  like  the  old  in  some 
things,  was  very  unlike  it  in  many  things.  It  is  now  a 
business  connection  merely,  formed  at  will,  and  inter 
rupted  at  will  on  either  side,  and  rarely  elevated  above 
this  commonplace  character  by  any  ardent  feeling  of  de 
votion  on  the  part  of  the  servant,  or  by  unreserved  con 
fidence  or  warm  attachment  on  the  part  of  the  master. 

The  general  life  of  the  servants  in  the  household  is 
necessarily  the  same  as  it  was  in  the  age  of  slavery. 
They  still  receive  the  new-born  infant  into  their  arms  ; 
they  nurse  the  young  child  with  maternal  fondness  ;  they 
gather  in  a  beaming  throng  behind  the  assembly  of  guests 
at  the  family  weddings  ;  at  gay  entertainments  they  look 
on  unrebuked  at  the  dancers  in  the  drawing-room  ;  they 
watch  through  the  night  with  patient  solicitude  at  the 
bedside  of  the  sick  ;  they  shroud  the  dead  for  that  breath 
less  slumber  which  shall  never  be  broken  ;  and  crowd 
about  the  grave  when  the  body  is  committed  to  the  earth. 
But  in  spite  of  the  closeness  of  their  connection  with 
these  cheerful  and  mournful  scenes,  we  discover,  from 
the  conduct  of  their  master  and  his  family  towards  them, 
that  the  reciprocity  of  feeling  that  unites  them  is  only 
superficial  after  all.  As  long  as  the  servants  were  slaves, 
for  instance,  there  was  frequent  communication  between 
their  dwellings  and  the  residence  of  their  owner.  The 
inmates  of  the  latter  were  informed  of  all  the  incidents 
that  joined  to  make  up  the  humble  history  of  the  firesides 


34       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

of  the  cabins.  They  attended  the  different  marriages  of 
their  domestics  there,  presented  each  couple  with  sub 
stantial  bridal  gifts,  and  furnished  forth  the  tables  for 
the  bridal  feast  ;  they  stood  and  observed  the  throng 
when  a  party  was  given  there,  and  their  presence  did  not 
dash  the  gayety  of  the  occasion  ;  they  visited  those  who 
were  sick  and  supplied  them  with  medicines,  clothing, 
and  proper  nourishment  ;  and  if  the  illness  ended  fatally 
in  any  instance,  they  showed  respect  or  affection  for  the 
dead  by  going  to  the  funeral  and  raising  a  stone  above  the 
grave.  In  short,  they  testified  in  many  ways  the  interest 
which  they  felt  in  the  households  of  their  servants  ; 
and  it  was  an  interest  which  these  looked  upon  as  their 
right,  but  which  they  did  not  value  the  less  for  that  rea 
son.  All  of  this  has  now,  in  great  measure,  passed  away, 
in  consequence  of  the  more  formal  character  which  the 
relation  of  master  and  servant  has  assumed  ;  the  latter 
neither  expects  nor  wishes  his  master  to  be  concerned 
about  his  private  affairs,  and  the  master  in  turn  neither 
feels  nor  shows  any  disposition  to  be  so.  He  is  content 
to  allow  the  social  barrier  which  freedom  has  raised  to 
stand  as  it  is.  Even  if  he  sought  to  break  it  down,  his 
overtures  would  not  be  met  in  a  hearty  way.  If  the 
servant  or  any  member  of  his  family  falls  sick,  then  the 
master  is  generally  kind  and  helpful,  but  he  is  influenced 
rather  by  an  impulse  of  common  humanity  than  by  per 
sonal  affection.  He  rarely  attends  the  weddings,  enter 
tainments,  or  religious  meetings  of  his  domestics.  His 
example  in  this  is  imitated  by  his  family  ;  and  the  result 
is  as  complete  a  separation  between  the  home-life  of  the 
master  and  that  of  the  servant  as  if  there  was  no  social 
tie  whatever  between  the  two. 

With  the  decline  of  the  master's  social  influence  over 


MASTER  AND   SERVANT.  $$ 

the  servant  many  important  changes  have  taken  place  in 
the  character  of  the  servant  himself.  As  a  slave  he  was 
instinctively  docile  and  tractable,  whether  the  master  was 
lax  in  his  discipline  or  not,  for  the  nature  of  the  relation 
was  such  that  the  domestic  never  lost  sight  for  a  moment 
of  the  subordination  and  helplessness  of  his  position. 
We  do  not  observe  this  now.  Under  the  new  system  it 
depends  upon  the  bearing  of  his  master  whether  he  is 
useful  or  not,  for  of  all  men  who  are  compelled  by  their 
situation  in  life  to  earn  their  support  in  a  menial  capacity, 
and  under  orders,  no  one  responds  more  quickly  or  fully 
than  he  to  the  spirit  that  animates  his  superior  in  their 
association.  If  the  latter,  for  instance,  is  destitute  of  an 
executive  turn,  or  is  careless  in  his  management,  or  de 
scends  to  personal  familiarity,  then  the  servant  is  sloth 
ful,  perverse,  and  even  impertinent,  for  he  has  a  very 
shrewd  insight  into  moral  weakness,  and  is  too  much  a 
creature  of  impulse  not  to  govern  his  deportment  by  the 
conclusions  of  his  observation,  whether  hostile  to  his 
real  interests  or  not.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
master  is  exacting  and  resolute,  and  at  the  same  time, 
considerate,  just,  and  discriminating,  the  servant  is  alert, 
industrious,  and  expeditious,  unless  he  is  peculiarly 
worthless  by  nature  or  has  been  demoralized  by  unusual 
circumstances.  To  bring  him  to  the  greatest  use 
fulness  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  be  required  to 
conform  to  certain  fixed  standards  of  conduct*  to  which 
he  will  not  rise  of  his  own  voluntary  motion,  or  if  he 
should  do  so,  he  will  not  adhere  to  them  long.  .He 
rarely  discharges  his  duties  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
unless  he  is  under  the  strictest  supervision,  his  inclina 
tion  being  to  allow  his  energies  to  relax  as  soon  as  the 
pressure  that  has  controlled  him  has  been  removed. 


36      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

When  driven,  so  to  speak,  he  can  be  confidently  relied 
upon  as  a  servant,  if  he  is  not  exposed  to  too  much 
temptation  ;  if  the  terms  of  commands  given  him  are 
not  so  complex  as  to  lead  to  mental  confusion,  into 
which  he  easily  falls  ;  if  too  long  a  time  is  not  to  elapse 
before  he  must  obey  them  ;  or  if  not  too  much  time  is 
to  be  taken  up  in  executing  them,  for  although  his  ordi 
nary  disposition  is  to  comply,  yet  his  memory  is  treach 
erous,  not  retaining  impressions  of  any  kind  long,  even 
when  he  may  wish  to  remember.  For  this  reason,  as  well 
as  because  he  is  heedless  and  indolent  naturally,  the  ne 
gro  is  generally  untrustworthy  as  a  domestic,  if  he  is  not 
superintended  without  intermission,  or  if  his  memory 
is  not  frequently  refreshed  ;  and  he  will  display  this 
relaxation  of  effort  and  forgetfulness  of  mind  whether  he 
is  acting  as  a  superior  through  others,  or  is  the  immedi 
ate  instrument  himself.  Few  duties  requiring  intelli 
gent,  constant,  and  close  attention  are  imposed  upon  him 
if  the  result  of  carelessness  or  thoughtlessness  would  be 
either  dangerous  or  ruinous  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  him  in  connection  with  any  employment  that  demands 
unusual  patience,  firmness,  and  self-possession.  This 
inability  to  be  watchful,  prudent,  and  self-controlled  for 
any  length  of  time  without  alteration  is  displayed  even 
when  he  knows  that  by  allowing  his  mind  to  wander  he 
is  putting  his  life  in  jeopardy  or  injuring  his  material 
interests  irretrievably.  It  is  a  trait  which  he  seems  to  be 
incapable  of  either  eradicating  or  repressing.  His  phi 
losophy  of  life  appears  too  often  to  be  that  the  smaller 
the  trouble  and  precaution  taken  the  more  easily  and 
smoothly  the  world  moves,  and  that  order  and  precision 
are  to  be  deprecated  because  they  make  necessary  more 
or  less  activity,  mental  as  well  as  physical.  But  as 


MASTER  AND   SER 


the  spirit  of  docility  enters  more  deeply  into  his  disposi 
tion  than  even  the  spirit  of  indolence,  he  does  not  draw 
back  or  rebel  when  he  is  coerced.  The  pressure  of 
legitimate  authority  brings  a  force  to  bear  upon  him  that 
overcomes  the  strength  of  the  fundamental  qualities  of 
his  character  that  are  running  in  powerful  opposition. 
When  he  is  under  steady  discipline,  he  cannot  be  extolled 
too  highly  for  the  readiness  with  which  he  assumes  and 
the  alacrity  with  which  he  pushes  to  a  conclusion  tasks 
that  may  be  very  different  from  the  work  which  he  is  en 
gaged  to  do,  or  foreign  .to  his  experience  ;  and  he  will 
show  the  same  promptness,  however  late  the  hour  of  the 
night  at  which  he  is  aroused,  or  however  unexpected  the 
occasion.  This  is  to  be  attributed  just  now  far  more  to 
that  instinct  of  obedience  which  has  been  transmitted  to 
him  from  his  immediate  forefathers,  and  to  those  lessons 
which  have  been  inculcated  by  the  meanness  of  his  for 
tunes,  than  to  the  general  character  of  his  race.  The 
traditions  and  influences  of  slavery  have  made  the  dispo 
sition  of  the  freedmen  at  least  more  compliant  and 
obliging  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  While  this 
submissiveness,  which  the  negro  now  shows  when  the 
reins  of  authority  over  him  are  held  with  a  firm  hand, 
will  decline  as  time  progresses,  his  native  cheerfulness 
and  good  humor  will  remain  unaffected  by  his  condition, 
whatever  it  may  be.  It  is  these  qualities  that  largely  in 
fluence  the  master  of  the  present  day  to  value  him  highly 
as  a  servant,  for  if  he  were  sullen  of  mind  as  well  as 
short  of  memory,  and  surly  of  aspect  in  addition  to  being; 
frequently  careless  and  negligent  in  conduct,  he  would 
be  unendurable  as  a  personal  attendant.  His  thought 
less  disposition  may  produce  much  disorder  and  suffer 
much  uncleanliness  around  him,  but  its  very  easiness 


38       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

excites  a  lurking  partiality,  however  exasperating  its 
consequences  occasionally.  It  is  the  disposition  of  an 
undisciplined  child  in  its  indifference  to  the  relation  of 
cause  and  effect ;  and  like  the  disposition  of  a  child, 
too,  it  prompts  the  master  to  overlook  deficiencies  that 
he  would  not  excuse  if  the  servant  were  white  and  not 
black.  He  goes  even  further  than  this  :  he  does  not 
apply  to  the  servant  the  same  moral  standard  that  he 
applies  to  individuals  of  his  own  race.  His  inclination  is 
rather  to  pity  than  to  condemn  the  domestic,  should  the 
latter  trespass  against  decorum  or  even  honesty,  experi 
ence  or  prejudice  causing  the  master  to  believe  that  his 
servant  is  so  undisciplined  by  the  turn  of  his  native 
qualities  that  he  cannot  properly  be  held  responsible  for 
his  conduct  ;  or  if  he  can  be  and  should  be,  then  the 
general  character  of  his  race  is  so  defective  that  the  per 
son  who  would  be  employed  to  fill  the  position  vacated 
by  his  summary  dismissal  would  not  be  found  to  be  less 
infirm  in  his  disposition  or  more  circumspect  in  his  be 
havior.  The  master  argues — whether  justly  or  not — that 
he  would  merely  put  himself  to  much  unnecessary  in 
convenience  to  enter  into  a  contract  with  a  new  domestic 
when  it  is  not  probable  that  he  will  be  better  than  the 
old,  and  not  improbable  that  he  will  be  worse. 

If  the  servant  is  merely  a  pilferer  in  a  small  way,  an 
effort  is  made  to  remove  him  from  temptation  ;  and  if  his 
duties  are  such  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  this,  a  close 
supervision  is  exercised  over  him  as  a  temporary  correc 
tive  beyond  which  no  remedy  is  sought ;  and  this  super 
vision  has  to  be  unremitting,  in  consequence  of  which  it 
becomes  in  time  very  irksome.  But  should  it  be  omitted 
on  a  single  occasion,  though  the  servant  may  have  been 
thwarted  during  the  course  of  many  months,  yet  he  will 


MASTER  AND   SERVANT.  39 

gratify  himself  at  the  first  opportunity  he  has  of  doing 
so,  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  his  previous  depriva 
tion. 

Occasionally  the  servant  who  is  favored  most  highly  in 
the  household  is  the  one  upon  whom  the  least  depend 
ence  can  be  put  when  tempted  to  do  wrong.  The  gen 
eral  bearing  of  his  master  towards  him  is  not  affected  by 
a  clear  recognition  of  his  weaknesses.  The  amiability  of 
the  servant  ;  his  ready  and  obedient  spirit  under  firm 
management  ;  above  all,  and  it  sounds  like  a  strange 
paradox,  the  innocence  of  his  immorality,  conciliate  the 
good-will  and  soften  the  spirit  of  condemnation  in  the 
master,  when  the  wrongful  acts  themselves  if  contem 
plated  abstractly  would  alienate  all  feelings  of  kindness 
or  forgiveness.  The  master's  confidence  in  the  disposi 
tion  of  his  servant  is  by  the  discovery  of  certain  infirmi 
ties  destroyed  only  to  the  extent  of  those  infirmities  ; 
it  does  not  follow  at  all  that  the  latter's  whole  char 
acter  is  corrupt  because  it  is  totally  unworthy  of  respect 
in  certain  phases.  He  may  be  an  incorrigible  rogue,  for 
instance,  and  yet  he  will  stop  at  no  self-sacrifice  to 
preserve  the  general  property,  or  even  the  life,  of  his  mas 
ter  when  either  is  in  sudden  danger  of  destruction  ;  he 
may  be  indefatigable  in  stirring  up  political  hatred 
against  the  master,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  and  yet 
will  serve  him  with  a  promptness,  cheerfulness,  and  in 
dustry  that  go  far  to  soothe  the  feeling  of  distrust,  which 
his  course  has  aroused.  The  master  vents  his  passing 
emotion  of  indignation  and  repugnance  in  pungent  lan 
guage,  but  he  always  ends  by  accepting  his  servant  just 
as  he  is  with  a  mingled  spirit  of  helplessness,  resignatipn, 
and  philosophy,  tempered  by  real  liking  and  even  affec 
tion.  He  will  persist  in  conferring  many  benefits  upon 


40      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

that  servant  at  the  very  time  that  he  expresses  his  inabil 
ity  to  esteem  him,  and  will  even  impair  his  own  interests 
to  assist  the  servant,  as  a  substantial  acknowledgment  of 
his  good  qualities  as  a  domestic,  however  detestable  his 
characteristics  as  a  man.  Underlying  all  these  superfi 
cial  evidences  of  good  will,  however,  on  the  part  of  the 
master,  there  is  found  a  deep  distrust  of  the  servant's 
character,  however  excellent  apparently,  if  it  should  be 
put  to  a  prolonged  test.  He  places  no  confidence  in  the 
domestic's  affection,  no  reliance  upon  his  fidelity,  no 
trust  in  his  honesty,  if  circumstances  should  arise  calcu 
lated  to  subject  the  strength  of  these  qualities  to  a  pro 
tracted  trial  ;  and  this  premonition  of  the  master  tinc 
tures  his  strictures  with  cynicism  and  breathes  the  spirit 
of  contempt  into  his  very  praises. 

It  is  remarkable  how  little  the  habits  of  the  average 
negro  are  changed  by  long  and  intimate  association  as  a 
servant  with  the  most  refined  and  educated  white  people. 
For  instance,  he  has  no  native  appreciation  of  order  and  no 
innate  love  of  cleanliness  and  it  is  almost  impossible  even 
by  the  most  persistent  instruction  to  inculcate  in  him  a 
taste  for  either  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  not  unjust  to  say  that 
disorder  and  untidiness  are  positively  agreeable  to  him 
and  continue  so.  As  long  as  he  is  carefully  overlooked 
and  directed,  his  conduct  is  not  open  to  censure  in  this 
respect,  for  he  responds  to  command  cheerfully  and  obeys 
readily,  but  as  soon  as  a  rigorous  superintendence  is 
withdrawn,  he  shows  an  indifference  to  the  condition  of 
his  surroundings  that  soon  makes  a  very  visible  impres 
sion.  The  necessity  of  having  to  contend  with  this  trait 
of  the  servant  is  very  troublesome,  and  the  struggle  is 
prolonged  and  uninterrupted.  However  well-trained  he 
may  be  in  the  performance  of  his  household  duties,  or 


MASTER  AND   SERVANT.  4! 

however  obedient  in  conforming  to  the  slightest  wish  of 
his  master,  he  does  not  always  show  in  the  character  of 
his  own  cabin  that  he  has  taken  to  heart  the  spirit  of 
those  admonitions  to  which  he  may  listen  attentively  at 
the  moment,  and  act  upon  generally  while  he  is  in  the  pre 
cincts  of  the  planter's  residence.  No  great  difference  in 
the  point  of  comfort  or  neatness  is  observed  between  his 
home  and  that  of  the  ordinary  laborer,  although  he  en 
joys  many  perquisites  out  of  the  reach  of  the  latter  and  is 
paid  higher  wages.  It  is  true  that  various  articles,  use 
ful  as  well  as  ornamental,  are  found  in  his  dwelling  that 
are  rarely  seen  in  the  houses  of  the  common  hands,  such, 
for  instance,  as  pictures  fly-specked  and  embrowned  by 
smoke  or  dust,  or  an  old-fashioned  clock  or  rocking-chair 
or  a  worn  rug  or  carpet,  or  a  plate  and  bowl  ;  or  there 
hangs  in  the  wardrobe,  perhaps,  a  shabby  suit  cut  after  a 
recent  fashion,  or  a  soiled  bonnet,  or  a  torn  pair  of 
gloves,  or  other  finery  that  has  passed  through  its  best 
days.  These  have  been  presented  by  the  different  mem 
bers  of  the  family  upon  which  he  attends,  but  leaving 
them  out  of  view,  there  are  as  a  rule  no  other  very  con 
spicuous  evidences  that  the  head  of  the  cabin  passes  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  amidst  the  improving  influences 
of  superior  refinement.  His  children  appear  in  soiled 
and  shabby  clothing  that  could  be  mended  and  cleansed 
without  expense  ;  the  furniture  is  often  allowed  to  remain 
broken  when  the  work  of  a  few  minutes  would  set  it  in  a 
proper  condition  again  ;  the  floor  to  continue  foul  when 
a  few  sweeps  of  the  broom  would  brush  it  clean  ;  the 
weeds  to  choke  the  vicinity  of  the  dwelling  when  a  dozen 
swathes  of  the  scythe  would  cut  them  down.  He  gener 
ally  erects  his  sty  so  near  at  hand  that  the  air  is  tainted 
with  offensive  and  unwholesome  odors  ;  he  frequently 


42       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A   FREEMAN. 

chooses  sites  for  his  out-houses  where  they  will  become 
unsightly  objects  ;  and  does  many  things  besides  to  im 
pair  the  healthfulness  or  injure  the  aspect  of  his  environ 
ment  which  prudence  or  the  possession  of  ordinary  taste 
would  have  prohibited. 

Even  after  a  service  of  many  years  in  the  household  of 
his  employer,  the  principal  characteristics  of  his  race  as 
developed  in  him,  remain  substantially  as  they  are  in 
individuals  of  his  own  color  who  have  not  been  brought 
in  the  range  of  the  same  elevating  social  influences.  Logi 
cally  enough  the  constitutional  differences  of  disposition 
between  the  master  and  servant  as  the  representatives 
of  two  races,  stand  out  in  the  most  marked  juxtaposition 
in  their  domestic  connection,  but  contact  leaves  their 
original  qualities  essentially  as  they  were.  Master  and 
servant  indeed  affect  each  other  only  to  an  insignificant 
degree  and  in  unimportant  things.  It  is  remarkable  that 
this  should  be  so  in  the  case  of  the  negro,  for  he  is  the 
weaker,  the  more  impressionable,  and  the  dependent 
party.  All  the  subtle  power  of  the  family  life  of  his 
employer  is  brought  to  bear  upon  him  directly,  and  it 
merely  breaks  through  the  surface  of  his  character.  He 
is  of  an  imitative  turn  to  a  certain  extent,  and  easily 
catches  distinctions  of  deportment  or  peculiarities  of 
dress,  but  on  the  whole,  he  is  not  responsive  to  that  un 
derlying  and  far-reaching  sentiment  that  shapes  the  con 
duct  of  an  upright  master,  near  whose  person  his  time  is 
spent  and  to  whose  authority  he  submits  without  reserve. 
Such  association  unquestionably  makes  him  more  gentle 
in  his  bearing,  but  it  does  not  deeply  color  his  judgment 
in  relation  to  his  duties  as  a  husband,  a  father,  or  a  citi 
zen  ;  it  does  not,  as  a  rule,  improve  his  moral  tone  so  far 
as  to  cause  him  to  condemn  severely  every  form  of  im- 


MASTER  AND   SERVANT.  43 

morality  or  even  criminality.  He  is  just  as  emotional  and 
ignorant  in  his  religious  opinions  as  the  most  uncouth 
and  illiterate  laborer,  just  as  superstitious  in  his  general 
creed  and  as  credulous  of  the  supernatural.  Among  the 
negroes  who  have  the  most  unshaken  faith  in  "  tricking," 
are  house  servants  who  have  lived  under  conditions  that 
seem  very  hostile  to  the  entertainment  of  such  ridiculous 
and  puerile  beliefs.  However  long,  too,  they  may  have 
been  connected  with  their  master's  residence,  there  is  no 
conspicuous  sign  of  their  shrinking  from  intimate  associ 
ation  with  the  rudest  persons  of  their  race,  in  accordance 
with  the  promptings  of  acquired  refinement.  They  share 
their  sympathies  and  emotions  with  the  field  hands,  and 
apparently  no  influence  emanating  from  the  positions 
they  fill  to  modify  their  tastes  and  ideas,  raises  any 
social  barrier  of  consequence  between  them  ;  they 
intermarry  with  these  freely  and  meet  them  in  the  most 
familiar  social  intercourse.  But  this  is  perhaps  natural 
after  all,  for  it  is  only  in  a  few  points  that  they  are  distin 
guishable  from  each  other,  these  few  being  of  no  marked 
importance  in  their  bearing  on  character,  as  they  are 
superficial  and  not  fundamental. 


IV. 

BLACKS  AND   WHITES. 

THE  diminished  intimacy  of  the  relation  of  master  and 
servant  is  reflected  with  exaggeration  in  that  growing  so 
cial  spirit  which  is  moving  the  negro  and  white  man 
with  equal  force  to  withdraw  still  further  from  each  other. 
This  disposition  is  more  energetic  than  seems  to  be  war 
ranted  by  the  mere  fact  that  the  institution  of  slavery  has 
been  abolished  and  every  influence  that  emanated  from 
it  dissipated,  or  directed  in  the  way  of  an  early  disap 
pearance.  Emancipation  destroyed  at  one  stroke  the 
original  bond  of  union,  but  the  social  divorce  of  the  two 
races  is  much  more  marked  than  would  have  been 
thought  possible,  in  the  past,  in  the  light  of  their  local 
proximity  and  their  partial  dependence  upon  each  other 
in  an  economic  sense.  The  causes  that  have  promoted 
their  political  opposition  are  soon  discovered  and  are 
easily  understood,  but  the  reasons  that  are  widening  the 
social  breach  between  them,  are  subtler  and,  therefore, 
more  obscure.  That  the  white  people  entertain  a  deep- 
seated  social  antipathy  to  the  negro  is  manifest  to  the 
most  careless  observer;  but  whether  this  is  due  to  the 
contempt  and  disdain  which  were  bred  in  them  by  his 
former  degraded  condition,  when  his  social  inferiority  was 
legalized  ;  or  whether  it  is  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of  his 
intellectual  ignorance,  personal  uncleanliness,  and  moral 
infirmities,  now  that  he  is  free  ;  or  whether  it  should  be 

44 


BLACKS  AND   WHITES.  45 

attributed  after  all  to  a  narrow  and  unthinking  prejudice 
that  originates  in  a  mere  difference  of  color,  is  open  to 
discussion.  The  strong  probability  is  that  this  state  of 
feeling  is  the  result  of  all  these  powerful  influences  com 
bined  ;  but  to  whatever  it  should  be  ascribed,  it  has  had 
a  very  vigorous  and  far-reaching  effect  in  confirming  an 
independent  tendency  of  the  negro  to  live  apart  to  him 
self.  No  one  is  more  conscious  than  he  of  this  underly 
ing  sentiment  in  the  hearts  of  the  white  people  ;  he  knows 
very  well  that  beneath  the  surface  of  their  kindness  to  him, 
even  when  it  takes  the  form  of  the  most  open  and  sincere 
affection,  there  lurks  an  active  and  resolute  sensitiveness 
that  would  rise  in  alarm  the  instant  he  sought,  unwit 
tingly  or  intentionally,  to  cross  the  social  dead-line.  How 
ever  genial,  therefore,  or  however  friendly  their  demeanor 
to  him,  he  is  fully  aware  that  one  forward  act  or  ven 
turous  word  on  his  part  would,  at  once,  enkindle  that 
emotion  of  repugnance  which  is  always  smouldering  in 
their  breasts,  and  which  only  requires  the  application  of 
the  proper  match  to  set  it  aflame.  The  social  attitude  of 
the  white  people  towards  him  is  remarkable.  Their  con 
duct,  capricious,  irregular,  and  inconsistent  as  it  seems,  is 
yet  governed  by  an  unwritten  law,  that  is  never  changed 
and  never  relaxed.  In  the  midst  of  the  most  familiar  in 
tercourse,  apparently,  there  is  an  unconscious  mental 
reservation,  an  instinctive  assumption  of  superiority  by 
them,  that  gives  the  association  a  peculiar  character, 
which  the  negro,  heedless  and  impulsive  as  he  is,  appre 
ciates  by  intuition.  Even  now,  when  the  white  people 
are  so  much  more  guarded  in  their  demeanor  than  they 
were  in  the  era  of  slavery,  they  often  bear  themselves 
towards  him  in  a  way  that  would  be  an  admission  of  so 
cial  equality,  but  for  this  subtle  difference  of  spirit.  As 


46      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

soon,  however,  as  the  bare  idea  of  such  equality  is  sug 
gested  to  their  minds  by  his  manner  of  accepting  such 
advances,  they  shrink  back  with  unconcealed  disgust  and 
resentment,  or  show  their  indignation  in  a  still  more  un 
mistakable  way.  The  very  fear  of  being  misunderstood 
causes  them  to  be  much  more  circumspect  in  their  social 
relations  with  him  than  they  would  otherwise  be.  All 
those  social  condescensions  on  their  part  that  did  so 
much  to  alleviate  the  hardships  of  slavery  are,  in  conse 
quence,  neglected  almost  entirely  in  their  present 
association  with  his  race. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  reluctance 
of  the  whites  to  enter  into  the  general  social  life  of  the 
negroes  is  due,  in  some  measure,  to  the  attitude  of  the 
negroes  themselves.  The  former  rarely  attend  now 
the  social  celebrations  of  the  blacks,  not  only  because 
they  shrink  from  such  intimate  contact,  but  also  because 
their  presence  arouses  a  spirit  of  uneasiness  and  discom 
fort  in  the  colored  participants,  who  desire  to  follow  out 
their  own  impulses,  however  extravagant,  unobserved  by 
persons  who,  they  know  instinctively,  would  be  critical, 
amused,  or  shocked.  So  far,  therefore,  as  their  more 
conspicuous  social  occasions  are  concerned,  they  are  left 
to  do  honor  to  them  after  the  manner  they  prefer.  The 
nature  of  these  occasions  would  be  changed,  and  the 
spirit  which  they  would  exhibit  dissipated,  if  white  per 
sons  were  to  venture  to  take  part  in  them.  If,  for  in 
stance,  a  white  man,  whether  a  clergyman  by  profession  or 
a  respectable  citizen,  who  felt  a  lively  interest  in  the  moral 
welfare  of  his  negro  neighbors,  were  to  seek  to  substitute 
himself  permanently  for  their  local  preacher,  and  to  deliver 
sermons  in  his  stead  every  Sunday,  the  probability  is  that 
he  would  not  be  able  to  gather  together  a  congregation, 


BLACKS  AND  WHITES.  47 

since  its  possible  members  would  feel  compelled,  while 
sitting  under  him,  to  behave  with  self-restraint,  which 
would  mean  the  repression  of  that  frantic  religious  ex 
citement  into  which  they  fall  so  easily,  and  which  they 
enjoy  so  much.  This  being  the  accompanying  condition 
of  his  ministration,  it  would  breathe  a  chill  upon  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  negroes  who  might  attend,  and  it 
would  not  be  long  before  they  would  absent  themselves 
altogether  rather  than  forego,  when  they  did  meet  de- 
votionally,  the  ability  to  act  just  as  the  spirit  of  their 
religion  moved  them. 

If  the  leading  white  citizens  were  to  inform  the  labor 
ers  of  a  neighborhood  of  their  intention  to  be  present  at 
one  of  those  plantation  entertainments  which  are  occa 
sionally  given  at  the  end  of  autumn,  when  the  different 
crops  have  been  harvested  and  stored  away  securely,  the 
announcement  would  not  be  received  by  the  negroes  as 
a  proof  of  friendly  interest,  but  would  be  looked  upon  as 
throwing  a  cloud  on  the  jollity  of  the  future  event  ;  and 
they  would  feel  thus,  not  so  much  because  the  attend 
ance  of  the  citizens,  as  persons  occupying  the  most 
prominent  position  in  the  community,  would  embarrass 
and  disturb  them,  but  principally  because  these  are  white 
men,  and  as  such,  therefore,  not  in  sympathy  with  the 
manner  in  which  they  would  abandon  themselves  to  the 
intoxication  of  the  hour.  This  sensitiveness  on  the  part 
of  the  negroes  is  still  more  conspicuously  displayed  at 
the  funerals,  on  which  occasions,  it  would  be  thought, 
the  mere  solemnity  of  the  ceremony,  as  well  as  the 
mournful  spectacle  of  mortality,  would  stifle  this  emotion 
by  making  them  unconscious  of  every  thing  beside.  But 
it  does  not.  The  burial  is  as  distinct  a  custom  of  the 
blacks  as  the  religious  assembly,  and  as  vividly  reflective 


48       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

of  their  social  peculiarities.  They  are  opposed,  therefore, 
to  the  introduction  of  any  influence  or  any  innovation 
that  would  be  apt  to  hamper  them  in  celebrating  it  just 
as  they  wished.  The  white  people  are  so  well  aware  of 
this  that  they  are  rarely  prompted  to  go  to  such  funerals, 
however  excellent  a  reason  they  may  have  for  being 
grateful  to  the  dead,  or  however  desirous  of  showing 
respect  to  their  memories. 

This  divergence  between  the  social  life  of  the  one  race 
and  that  of  the  other  in  those  scenes  where  it  would  be 
supposed  a  common  humanity  and  similar  material  inter 
ests  would  bring  the  members  of  both  together,  leaves  a 
strong  impression  upon  the  observer.  Omit  the  domestic 
servants  from  consideration,  who  constitute  only  a  few  in 
the  general  multitude,  and  it  is  found  that  the  sphere  in 
which  the  negroes  move  socially  is  as  wide  apart  from 
that  in  which  the  social  existence  of  the  whites  is  passed, 
as  if  the  two  races  inhabited  different  countries,  and 
were,  therefore,  locally  cut  off  from  each  other.  Indi 
viduals  representing  both  are  constantly  thrown  with 
each  other,  it  is  true  ;  negroes  and  white  men  meet  as 
employers  and  employes,  or  as  common  laborers  ;  but 
their  association  stops  there,  and  it  is  of  a  formal  char 
acter  as  far  as  it  goes.  The  two  distinct  societies  do  not 
join,  when  they  come  together  at  all,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
result  in  a  complete  blending,  however  brief,  of  their 
separate  systems.  The  remotest  anticipation  of  such 
union,  without  reserve,  even  in  the  most  insignificant  and 
superficial  social  affairs,  touches  the  sensibilities  of  the 
white  people  with  as  lively  repugnance  and  abhorrence 
as  if  it  signified  a  descent  into  an  unmeasurable  depth  of 
degradation.  To  acknowledge  social  equality  in  small 
things  is  to  give  up  the  general  principle  which  is  appli- 


BLACKS  AND  WHITES.  49 

cable  equally  to  small  and  great  ;  and  to  do  so  in  either 
is  to  relinquish  their  grasp  upon  every  thing  that  they 
value  and  every  thing  that  they  love.  It  is  to  strike  a 
blow  at  the  integrity  of  their  social  life  ;  it  is  to  revo 
lutionize  their  natures,  and  to  enfeeble  their  appre 
ciation  of  existence  itself.  Until  all  the  traditions 
and  emotions  which  their  superiority  of  mental  and 
moral  character,  and  differences  of  race  and  condition, 
have  created  have  been  destroyed,  they  will  continue 
to  feel  as  they  do  now.  Until  then,  even  to  discuss  the 
probability  of  a  change  of  sentiment,  will  be  accounted  as 
an  insult  ;  to  justify  such  a  change  will  be  considered  as 
heinous  as  defending  incest  and  rape  ;  and  to  predict  it 
with  confidence,  will  be  taken  as  a  proof  that  the  speaker, 
if  white,  is  an  enemy  of  his  people,  who  should,  there 
fore,  be  condemned  and  avoided.  The  present  strength 
of  this  sentiment  in  the  breasts  of  the  white  people,  is 
largely  ascribable,  and  upon  the  most  reasonable  and 
natural  grounds,  to  the  ignorance  and  licentiousness  of 
the  typical  negro  of  the  present  age  that  would  make 
him  highly  objectionable  to  refined  sensibilities  and  cul 
tivated  minds,  even  if  his  skin  were  that  of  a  Caucasian. 
Intellectual  blindness,  moral  obtuseness,  and  a  thought 
less  indulgence  of  every  appetite  have  never  been  judged 
to  be  lovely  and  attractive  traits  in  social  intercourse. 
If  the  negro  were  modest  and  unobtrusive  in  his  deport 
ment,  upright  and  honorable  in  his  conduct,  sober  and 
self-respecting  in  his  disposition,  intelligent  and  elevated 
in  mind,  he  would  receive  without  stint  that  personal 
respect  to  which  his  demeanor  and  character  would 
entitle  him.  In  short,  if  he  were  in  full  possession  of  all 
the  noble  qualities  that  adorn  human  nature,  the  white 
people  would  be  as  little  prompted  to  pass  him  by 


50      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN 

with  indifference  and  contempt,  socially,  as  if  he  be 
longed  to  their  own  race,  and  was  distinguished  as  a 
member  of  it,  for  the  same  moral  and  mental  excellence. 
It  is  true  that  they  would  not  admit  him  to  all  the  privi 
leges  of  their  firesides,  but  they  would  cheerfully  allow 
him  every  social  right  to  which  he  could  properly  lay 
claim.  So  far  from  imitating  such  an  ideal  example 
as  this,  the  negroes  frequently  disclose  in  their  inter 
course  with  white  people,  an  eagerness  to  attain  to  social 
equality  for  the  time  being,  without  having  any  just 
ground  in  themselves  for  such  pretension.  When  thrown 
with  the  older  children  of  their  employers,  they  are 
pointed  in  addressing  them  by  their  Christian  names 
more  often  than  occasion  calls  for,  and  this  disposition 
to  gratify  their  desire  for  social  recognition  by  an  offi 
cious  and  presumptuous  bearing,  is  only  repressed  in  its 
most  insolent  manifestations,  under  other  circumstances, 
by  the  resolute  resentment  of  it  on  the  part  of  its  vic 
tims.  In  a  capricious,  unsteady,  and  impulsive  way,  no 
man  is  more  aspiring  than  the  negro,  and  if  this  trait 
were  supported  by  a  proportionate  vigor  of  character 
and  tenacity  of  purpose,  he  would  soon  thrust  himself, 
in  spite  of  the  firmest  opposition,  into  the  greatest  promi 
nence  as  an  individual,  but  he  is  incapable  of  stern  and 
indefatigable  persistence.  Admit  him  in  his  present 
state  of  development  to  that  social  position  which  he 
seems  to  value  so  much,  and  the  mere  consciousness  of 
having  attained  an  end  which  he  had  desired  so  keenly, 
instead  of  strengthening  him  for  a  further  advance, 
would  probably  turn  his  head  beyond  recovery.  He 
would  become  extremely  giddy  and  vain,  and  would  be 
inflated  with  a  pompous  sense  of  his  own  social  conse 
quence.  The  inclination  of  the  negro,  when  he  is  puffed 


BLACKS  AND  WHITES.  5  I 

up  in  his  self-love  by  any  kind  of  success,  however 
trivial,  is  to  pass  the  bounds  of  propriety  and  even  de 
cency  ;  on  the  other  hand,  when  discouraged,  as  he  is  by 
the  smallest  obstacle,  he  is  apt  to  sink  to  the  lowest 
point  of  servility.  This  tendency  is  very  plainly  illus 
trated  in  his  association  with  white  people.  Thus  the 
employe  who  is  humblest  and  most  deprecating,  under 
exacting  authority,  is  often  one  of  the  first  to  bear  him 
self  rudely  and  impertinently  towards  white  persons 
when  he  can  do  so  safely  ;  and  in  this  he  is  influenced 
not  so  much  by  sinister  feeling  as  by  a  childish  rashness 
that  unsettles  his  brain  like  the  penetrating  fumes  of 
strong  liquor.  Few  members  of  his  race  have  that  ele 
ment  of  self-respect  in  their  characters  that  would  lead 
them  to  be  true  to  an  elevated  conception  of  their  own 
individuality,  however  tested,  and  which  would  move 
them  to  show  anger  and  hatred,  when  under  the  influ 
ence  of  those  passions,  in  a  bold  and  manly  way.  They 
too  frequently  display  the  greatest  cruelty  when  they  can 
inflict  injury,  and  an  equal  abjectness  when  they  are 
overawed  by  force. 

The  white  people  are  clearly  aware  of  this  aspiring 
and  aggressive  disposition  of  the  negroes  in  a  personal 
way,  and  that  spirit  of  antagonism  which  it  nourishes  in 
their  breasts  has  brought  about  a  complete  separation 
between  the  two  under  many  circumstances  where  there 
was  the  most  familiar  contact  formerly.  Two  notable 
instances  of  this  may  be  referred  to.  Thus,  before  the 
slaves  were  set  free,  the  white  and  black  children  mingled 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  in  a  common  enjoyment  of  the 
various  sports  and  amusements  of  their  age,  whether 
pursued  in  the  house  or  in  the  field  ;  and  this  constant 
companionship  gave  birth  to  a  kindness  and  affection  for 


52       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN, 

each  other  that  were  often  deep  and  lasting.  Such  inter 
course  between  the  children  of  the  two  races  is  rarely 
observed  now,  because  the  white  people  are,  as  a  rule, 
strict  in  forbidding  theirs  to  turn  to  such  society  for 
diversion.  They  are  induced  to  do  this,  primarily,  by 
antipathy  of  race  that  makes  them  careful  to  preserve 
the  barriers  between  the  negroes  and  themselves  in  their 
present  strength  and  firmness,  which,  they  believe,  can 
only  be  done  by  keeping  the  two  races  as  far  apart 
socially  as  possible.  The  children  can  only  associate 
together,  now,  on  a  footing  of  equality  ;  the  relation  which 
they  formerly  bore  to  each  other,  even  in  comparative  in 
fancy,  can  no  longer  be  maintained.  An  admitted  superi 
ority  on  one  side  and  an  accepted  inferiority  on  the  other, 
as  soon  as  their  intelligence  could  recognize  that  there 
was  a  distinction,  was  not  only  a  necessary  characteristic 
but  also  the  real  basis  of  that  relation  under  the  old  sys 
tem.  But  this  is  not  so  now  that  the  emancipation  of  the 
slave  has  brought  about  so  many  social  changes.  That 
difference  in  the  nature  of  the  terms  of  association  on 
which  the  children  of  the  two  races  would  now  meet, 
would  seem  to  be  unimportant  in  the  light  of  their  youth, 
but  such  equal  association,  however  completely  it  may 
terminate  as  time  advances,  jars  upon  the  sensitive  pre 
judices  of  the  white  people  and  makes  them  anxious  to 
forbid  it  altogether.  A  subordinate,  but  powerful  con 
sideration,  too,  is  their  very  reasonable  objection  to  the 
moral  effect  of  such  companionship,  for  the  young  ne 
groes  unfortunately  are  so  ignorant  of  those  lessons  that 
enforce  propriety  of  speech  and  deportment  that  it  is 
not  surprising  that  prudent  and  watchful  parents  should 
not  regard  them  as  fit  associates  for  their  offspring,  espe 
cially  when  the  latter  are  still  at  an  impressionable  age. 


BLACKS  AND  WHITES.  53 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  would  overlook  in  such 
children  what  they  would  undoubtedly  censure  severely 
if  those  children  were  not  black,  but  white,  who  set  an 
equally  unhappy  example  and  exerted  an  influence  as 
dangerous.  Even  before  emancipation,  such  companion 
ship,  hedged  in  as  it  was  then  by  so  many  restrictions, 
was  not  beneficial  morally,  but  was  unavoidable,  owing 
to  the  relation  that  bound  the  slave  to  the  master. 

A  far  more  remarkable  evidence  of  the  social  antipathy 
of  the  white  people  to  the  negro  is  the  fact  that  illicit  sex 
ual  commerce  between  the  two  races  has  diminished  so 
far  as  to  have  almost  ceased,  outside  the  cities  and  towns, 
where  the  association  being  more  casual,  is  more  fre 
quent.  This  is  due  to  the  attitude  of  the  whites,  for 
the  negresses  are  less  modest  as  a  class  at  the  present 
day  than  they  were  before  the  abolition  of  slavery,  since 
they  are  now  under  no  restriction  at  all.  In  consequence 
of  this  reserve  on  the  part  of  white  men,  the  mulattoes 
are  rapidly  decreasing  in  numbers  with  the  progress  of 
time,  and  the  negroes  as  a  mass  are  gradually  but  surely 
reverting  to  the  original  African  type.  Before  many  de 
cades  elapse,  this  influence,  working  in  the  domestic  life 
of  the  race,  must  impress  itself  profoundly  upon  the  moral 
and  intellectual  disposition  of  its  members,  and  thus  shape 
and  govern  their  social  and  political  destinies  ;  but  its 
force  will  be  most  direct  and  powerful  in  its  social  bear 
ing,  for  the  only  possibility  of  the  social  amalgamation  of 
the  two  peoples  must  turn  upon  the  half-breed  as  the  pri 
mary  medium  of  transfusion.  As  his  skin  darkens  in  its 
return  to  the  tint  which  distinguished  that  of  his  remote 
ancestors,  the  prospects  of  blacks  and  whites  lawfully 
mixing  their  blood  fades  to  the  thinnest  shadow  of  prob 
ability.  There  was  little  improper  intercourse  between 


54      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

white  men  and  negresses  of  the  original  type  in  the 
period  before  emancipation,1  so  repulsive  were  the  gen 
eral  characteristics  of  the  negresses  to  the  tastes  of  the 
former  ;  and  it  seems  grossly  improbable  that  this  repug 
nance,  which  resisted  the  temptation  of  forming  passing 
connections,  will  be  so  far  overcome  as  to  allow  the  ad 
mission  of  such  women  to  the  honorable  relation  of 
wifehood,  even  in  a  few  instances.  Into  this  class,  all 
the  females  of  the  race  are  slowly  merging,  which  fact, 
when  fully  accomplished,  will  produce  an  unpleasing  ap 
pearance  and  temper  that  will  be  universal.  Even  the 
former  habit  of  cohabiting  with  mulattoes  for  a  time  is 
very  rarely  observed,  now  that  the  social  relation  between 
the  negroes  and  the  whites  has  been  placed  upon  a  differ 
ent  footing.  The  white  man  who  indulges  in  such  illicit 
pleasures  understands  that  he  puts  himself  on  a  plane  of 
equality  with  the  object  of  his  secret  passion.  All  social 
differences  are  for  the  time  being  destroyed,  inasmuch  as 
slavery  no  longer  exists  to  raise  its  barrier  of  social  divi 
sion  between  the  parties  to  the  act  in  spite  of  its  famil 
iarity.  As  long  as  the  woman  was  a  slave,  it  was  im 
probable  that  she  would  presume  upon  the  intimacy 
of  that  act;  her  position  wa.s  such  that  she  could  not, 
even  if  she  were  ready  to  do  so,  but  now  that  she  is  free, 
that  aspiring  disposition  for  which  the  female  negroes 
are  still  more  remarkable  than  the  male,  leads  her  to 
be  peculiarly  bold  and  forward  in  her  social  encroach 
ments,  on  the  least  encouragement.  The  prospect  too  of 
having  to  support  their  illegitimate  offspring  causes  many 
white  men,  who  would  not  shrink  from  the  disgrace  of 
exposure,  to  be  cautious  in  their  advances  to  such 
women.  In  consequence  of  these  facts,  a  very  whole- 
1  After  the  creation  of  the  mulatto  class. 


BLACKS  AND   WHITES.  55 

some  sentiment  prevails  among  all  classes  of  the  domi 
nant  race  as  to  the  impropriety  of  such  association.  They 
are  very  much  opposed  to  any  intercourse  with  the  negro 
that  acknowledges  his  social  equality  even  temporarily  ; 
whoever  among  them,  therefore  is  guilty  of  sexual  com 
merce  with  a  negress,  disregards  to  that  extent  those 
principles  which  they  consider  essential  to  the  permanent 
health  and  stability  of  their  social  life,  and  he  falls  in 
the  general  esteem  in  proportion.  The  few  white  women 
who  have  given  birth  to  mulattoes  have  always  been  re~ 
garded  as  monsters  ;  and  without  exception,  they  have 
belonged  to  the  most  impoverished  and  degraded  caste 
of  whites,  by  whom  they  are  scrupulously  avoided  as 
creatures  who  have  sunk  to  the  level  of  the  beasts  of 
the  field. 

The  ignorant  and  indigent  white  people  are  even 
more  intolerant  than  the  affluent,  in  their  opposition  to 
social  equality  with  the  negro,  inasmuch  as  their  extreme 
poverty  leaves  them  no  claim  to  higher  consideration 
than  he  enjoys,  except  what  is  based  upon  that  superi 
ority  of  race  which  is  disclosed  in  their  greater  firmness 
and  honesty  of  character.  Moved  by  such  a  powerful 
instinct  as  this,  their  social  independence  of  the  former 
slave  becomes  a  matter  of  serious  importance,  because 
constantly  in  jeopardy,  since  they  cannot,  like  the  class 
of  wealthy  white  people,  escape  from  association  with 
him  altogether,  being  themselves  compelled  to  earn  their 
daily  bread  by  the  labor  of  their  hands.  Such  associa 
tion  always  develops  much  bitterness  and  exasperation 
of  feeling.  It  is  one  of  the  most  notable  peculiarities 
of  the  negro,  that  he  respects  only  those  individuals 
who  are  in  possession  of  what  his  narrow  conception 
reckons  as  wealth,  which  he  does  not  esteem  for  the 


56       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

mere  physical  luxuries  which  it  is  able  to  purchase,  but 
rather  as  a  surviving  exponent  of  that  power  by  which 
he  was  coerced  during  the  period  of  his  slavery.  He 
honors  the  strength  of  a  vigorous  frame  only  as  long  as 
he  is  in  danger  of  being  soundly  cudgelled,  but  for  those 
high  qualities  of  mind  and  spirit  that  constitute  the 
essential  and  fundamental  differences  between  man  and 
man,  such  as  justness,  probity,  dignity,  and  purity,  he  has 
no  esteem,  unless  they  are  supported  by  fortune.  As  the 
lowest  class  of  the  white  people  have  no  riches  to  im 
press  his  imagination,  and  as  he  does  not  value  difference 
of  character,  he  is  disposed  to  hold  them  in  lively  con 
tempt,  and  very  often  is  only  prevented  from  giving 
expression  to  his  scorn  in  rude  language,  by  his  fear 
of  corporal  retaliation  at  their  hands.  They  are  well 
aware  of  this  impulse,  and  as  they  return  it  with  an 
acrimony  keener  in  proportion  to  their  greater  capacity 
for  steady  and  intense  feeling,  the  social  antagonism 
between  the  two  is  ardent  and  uncompromising.  Now, 
this  class  of  the  white  people  have  always  been  very 
much  under  the  personal  influence  of  those  of  their 
race  who  enjoy  the  highest  social  prominence,  among 
whom,  the  hostility  to  social  equality  with  the  negro 
is  tinctured  with  the  contempt  of  a  caste  that  is  founded 
not  only  upon  refinement,  education,  and  wealth,  but 
also  upon  distinctions  of  race.  As  long  as  they  con 
tinue  to  exercise  the  same  influence  upon  the  classes 
below  them,  the  association  of  the  latter  with  the  negro 
in  a  social  way,  will  retain  its  present  bent  of  uncon 
cealed  aversion,  even  though  time  dissipates  many  of 
those  prejudices  of  race  that  now  divide  them.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  this  influence  has  diminished  in 
consequence  of  the  pecuniary  disasters  entailed  upon 


BLACKS  AND  WHITES.  57 

the  highest  rank  of  citizens  by  the  failure  of  the 
Southern  cause  in  the  late  war,  and  in  no  direction  has 
it  been  exerted  with  more  earnestness  than  towards 
sustaining  that  social  repugnance  which  keeps  the  lowest 
class  aloof  from  the  negroes,  and  which  alone  obstructs 
their  social  union. 

This  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  leading  white  people  is 
not  inconsistent  with  kindness  and  good-will  to  the 
negro.  They  like  the  individual  because  he  is  generally 
amiable  and  obliging.  Then,  too,  he  is  associated  with 
all  the  principal  scenes  in  the  course  of  their  lives, 
and  is  thus  invested  with  that  personal  interest  which 
is  created  by  intimate  and  uninterrupted  intercourse. 
As  long  as  his  bearing  is  unobtrusive  and  self-respecting, 
he  cannot  complain  of  their  manner  of  receiving 
him,  or  the  character  of  their  disposition  towards  him. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  never  vary  in  disliking  and 
condemning  his  race  not  only  on  account  of  its  im 
providence,  unreliability,  and  moral  deficiencies,  but 
also  because  its  mere  presence  in  their  midst  is  a  direct 
menace  to  the  tranquillity  of  their  social  life,  the  stabil 
ity  of  their  political  institutions,  and  the  prosperity  of 
their  material  affairs.  The  freedman  has,  on  the  whole, 
proved  himself  to  be  a  faithful  laborer  under  supervision, 
but  his  children,  born  and  educated  under  the  influences 
of  the  new  system,  are  not  so  amenable  to  authority 
and  are  much  less  inclined  to  work.  This  has  increased 
those  industrial  obstacles  which  the  white  people  are 
anxious  to  surmount,  and  their  sentiment  towards  the 
race  has  been  less  favorable  in  proportion.  Futher- 
more,  they  entertain  the  belief  that  the  low  standard 
of  living  which  distinguishes  the  negroes  as  a  mass, 
renders  it  impossible  for  any  class  of  immigrant  laborers 


58       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

to  compete  with  them,  which  has  resulted  in  a  serious 
injury  to  the  sections  of  the  State  where  the  blacks  pre 
dominate,  inasmuch  as  families  who  would  have  removed 
thither,  have  been  discouraged  from  doing  so.  The 
great  political  power  of  such  a  horde  of  ignorant  voters 
is  still  more  calculated  to  disturb  the  equanimity  of  the 
white  people,  and  inspire  them  with  a  fear  that  is  incon 
sistent  with  any  confidence  in  the  negroes  as  a  body  ; 
who  constitute  such  an  instrument  for  evil  in  the  hands 
of  ingenious,  selfish,  and  worthless  adventurers,  that  the 
constant  danger  of  their  being  turned  to  such  unscru 
pulous  account  has  hitherto  invested  their  political 
existence  with  a  sinister  significance  that  has  had  the 
natural  effect  of  repelling  their  former  owners,  who  alone 
are  likely  to  suffer  "any  injury  by  it. 

Beneath  all  this  antipathy  of  the  whites  to  the  negroes 
as  a  race,  we  detect  a  clear  recognition  of  the  wisdom  of 
accepting  their  presence  in  the  community,  in  that  utili 
tarian  spirit  which  will  strive  to  turn  it  to  advantage,  by 
improving  their  intellectual  and  moral  condition,  as  far 
as  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  as  a  preparation  for  a  sober  and 
honorable  career  in  the  future.  The  white  people  argue 
that  the  blacks  are  among  them  apparently  to  remain, 
and  unless  they  can  be  made  useful  to  society,  they  will 
probably  jeopardize  its  existence,  and  undoubtedly  de 
stroy  its  prosperity  ;  all  proper  means  should,  therefore, 
be  employed  to  convert  them  into  energetic  and  conserva 
tive  citizens.  With  that  view,  the  members  of  the  dom 
inant  class  have  supported  the  public-school  system  with 
a  liberality  that  is  barely  justified  by  their  private  means, 
as  it  seems  to  be  the  only  feasible  agency  by  which  the 
desired  object  can  be  accomplished,  owing  to  the  social 
separation  and  antagonism  between  the  two  races. 


BLACKS  AND  WHITES.  $9 

It  is  difficult  to  detect  the  exact  character  of  the  gen 
eral  opinion  which  the  negro  entertains  of  his  white 
neighbors.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  the  authority 
which  the  white  people  once  exercised  over  him  from  the 
mere  fact  that  they  were  white,  is  fast  declining,  which 
shows  that  his  respect  for  a  white  skin  has  diminished. 
He  is  still  easily  repressed  by  any  show  of  force  by 
white  men,  because  he  knows  them  to  be  determined  and 
courageous,  while  he  is  conscious  of  his  own  timidity  ; 
but  that  undefined  notion  which  he  formerly  had  of  the 
superiority  of  the  other  race,  and  which  he  still  has  to  a 
considerable  degree  even  now,  is  no  longer  powerful  in 
controlling  his  conduct  by  checking  his  natural  impul 
siveness.  There  is  at  present  no  purely  sentimental  in 
fluence  to  overawe  him  in  his  general  relations  with  that 
race,  even  under  circumstances  where  formerly  he  would 
have  shrunk  back  in  humility  or  terror  ;  and  it  is  this 
state  of  mind  towards  the  great  mass  of  the  whites,  which 
arises  out  of  thoughtlessness  rather  than  deliberation, 
that  makes  it  of  the  gravest  importance  that  all  which 
has  a  tendency  to  inflame  the  social  antagonism  of  the 
two  peoples  should  be  earnestly  deprecated.  As  the 
negro  drifts,  with  the  passage  of  time,  further  away  from 
the  white  man,  this  aggressive  social  independence  will 
be  offensively  manifested  very  frequently,  and  if  he  were 
as  firm  and  intrepid  as  he  is  irresolute  and  timorous,  its 
consequences  would  be  fatal  to  the  tranquillity  of  any 
community  of  which  he  formed  a  part.  Very  unfortunate 
is  the  situation  of  that  community  in  which  there  are 
such  distinct  and  vigorous  social  forces  as  these  repre 
sented  by  the  two  races,  respectively  moving  forward  in 
the  same  direction,  but  conflicting  quite  often  enough 
to  create  and  diffuse  a  general  feeling  of  uneasiness  and 


60       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

disquietude.  And  this  occasional  friction  cannot  be 
ignored,  however  eager  the  inclination  to  do  so,  so  ob 
vious  and  so  pernicious  is  the  impression  which  it  leaves 
upon  the  general  destinies  of  the  common  country. 


V. 
THE  NEGRO  AND  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 

THE  presence  of  the  negro  even  as  a  slave  put  the 
safety  of  every  community  in  which  he  lived  in  jeopardy, 
but  that  presence  at  once  assumed  a  far  more  alarming 
significance  when  the  fetters  were  suddenly  struck  from 
his  limbs  and  all  the  rights  of  citizenship  were  conferred 
upon  him.  To  endow  him  with  privileges  so  important 
in  themselves,  and  so  momentous  in  their  possible  con 
sequences,  was  only  justifiable  as  a  measure  that  was 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  liberty  of  the  bene 
ficiary.  As  to  whether  it  was  really  necessary  or  not,  it 
would  now  be  idle  to  discuss.  There  can  be  no  differ 
ence  of  opinion,  however,  as  to  the  total  insufficiency  of 
the  preparation  which  he  had  received  for  exercise  of 
responsibilities  so  grave  and  far-reaching  as  those  that 
are  incident  to  suffrage.  Illiterate,  credulous,  feeble  in 
judgment,  weak  in  discrimination,  a  child  in  his  habits 
of  dependence  and  self-indulgence,  accessible  to  every 
temptation  and  with  little  ability  to  resist,  without  a  hope 
or  aspiration  above  his  physical  pleasures,  he  was  raised 
on  the  instant  from  the  level  of  a  beast  of  burden  to  the 
full  enjoyment  of  the  noblest  prerogative  of  freedom — 
the  right  to  vote.  It  was  virtually  the  admission  to  the 
franchise  of  a  man  who,  from  the  degradation  of  his 
previous  condition,  was  as  incapable  as  a  savage  out  of 
the  bush  of  understanding  the  duties  of  that  new  situa- 

6 1 


62       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

tion  in  which  the  force  of  circumstances,  which  he  had 
neither  directed  nor  anticipated,  had  placed  him.  The 
moral  and  mental  disposition  of  each  individual,  as  well 
as  the  great  numerical  strength  of  his  race,  might  have 
been  expected  with  absolute  confidence  to  invest  its 
members  as  a  body  with  such  a  sinister  political  power  as 
had  never  been  paralleled  before.  To  confer  the  right  of 
suffrage  upon  them,  even  for  the  purpose  of  educating 
and  sobering  them,  was  an  experiment  that  was  certain  to 
inflict  the  most  serious  injury  on  every  social  and  politi 
cal  institution  before  the  process  of  instruction  and 
improvement  could  be  finished  satisfactorily.  .Con 
summated  in  the  period  of  indescribable  anarchy  and 
bewilderment  that  succeeded  the  close  of  the  war,  its 
inevitable  tendency  was  to  prolong,  if  not  to  perpetuate, 
the  state  of  general  confusion  that  then  prevailed. 
Under  its  operation  it  seemed  to  be  impossible  that  any 
thing  that  remained  of  the  social  and  political  polity  that 
had  been  valued  and  revered  in  the  past  could  survive 
even  for  a  decade  or  generation,  and  it  would  not  have 
done  so  but  for  the  impotence  of  the  negro  and  the  firm 
ness  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  The  momentousness  of  the 
issue  raised  rather  than  lowered  the  courage  of  the 
whites,  and  the  stress  of  that  struggle  to  retain  what 
was  very  dear  to  them  as  men  and  citizens,  which 
followed,  touched  the  sensibilities  and  strengthened  the 
resolution  of  the  lowest  and  highest  among  them  alike, 
consolidating  them  by  the  influence  of  a  common  sym 
pathy,  and  stimulating  them  by  the  force  of  a  common 
motive.  In  casting  their  ballots  the  political  principle 
sank  out  of  sight  in  the  supreme  importance  of  the  social 
principle  to  be  sustained  ;  in  short,  it  was  a  social  rather 
than  a  political  question  that  was  to  be  decided  on  the 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH,      63 

occasion  of  every  election.  The  ballot  was  in  reality  an 
instrument  of  self-defense,  according  to  his  particular 
view,  in  the  hands  of  the  white  man  ;  he  deposited  his 
vote  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  his  social  life  as  un 
changed  as  possible,  and  to  accomplish  this  it  was  essen 
tial  that  he  should  maintain  his  political  ascendency. 
His  triumph  at  the  polls  secured  further  the  dignity  and 
stability  of  public  affairs,  a  general  respect  for  law  and 
order,  economy  of  administration,  and  fairness  of  taxa 
tion  ;  all  these  things  bore  directly  upon  his  material 
interests  and  appealed  to  his  selfishness  as  keenly  as  the 
preservation  of  his  social  institutions  in  their  original 
integrity  appealed  to  his  sentiment. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  negro,  too,  looked  upon  the  bal 
lot  as  his  most  effective  weapon  of  self-defense.  If  the 
right  of  suffrage  was  bestowed  upon  him  for  that  reason, 
then  he  accepted  it  emphatically  in  a  responsive  spirit ; 
he  clung  to  it  with  a  tenacity  and  anxiety  that  were  only 
explicable  in  the  light  of  his  dense  ignorance  and  extreme 
credulity,  which  placed  him  under  the  dominion  of  white 
leaders,  who  made  use  of  both,  at  the  expense  of  truth 
and  honor,  to  promote  their  own  selfish  designs.  These 
fostered,  in  every  way,  those  groundless  apprehensions 
as  to  the  security  of  his  newly  acquired  rights  that  lurked 
in  his  heart  after  he  was  set  free  ;  and  by  the  force  of 
their  ingenious  and  unscrupulous  representations,  he 
came  to  regard  the  ballot-box  as  the  only  barrier  between 
him  and  his  virtual  re-enslavement.  They  obtained  such 
an  influence  over  him  by  crafty  and  unconscionable  ap 
peals  to  his  fears,  that  they  inspired  him  with  but  one 
political  principle,  namely,  to  vote  always  in  opposition 
to  the  whites.  That  was  his  permanent  policy,  and  he 
followed  it  out  with  a  wonderful  singleness  of  purpose. 


64      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

No  just  and  accurate  insight  into  his  real  political  dispo 
sition  in  the  past  can  be  gotten  unless  this  fact  is  taken 
into  consideration,  for,  up  to  a  certain  date,  it  was  the 
principal  motive  of  his  political  conduct,  being  more 
powerful  even  than  natural  antipathy  of  race.  Very  un 
fortunately,  however,  in  using  the  ballot  as  a  means  of 
self-protection,  he  unconsciously  employed  it  as  a  power 
ful  instrument  of  attack  ;  and  the  consequence  has  been 
that  he  has  shown  himself  to  be  a  most  dangerous  enemy 
to  stable  and  conservative  government.  His  influence 
upon  that  political  life  into  which  he  was  introduced  so 
unexpectedly,  and  which  he  was  not  at  all  prepared  to 
enter,  has  been  demoralizing  in  all  its  bearings.  To  en 
dow  with  citizenship  an  individual  as  ignorant  and  de 
based  as  he  necessarily  was,  on  account  of  his  previous 
condition  of  servitude,  was  to  lower  the  dignity  of  the 
suffrage  to  a  level  where  it  could  only  be  regarded  with 
mingled  contempt  and  alarm.  It  was  besmirching  the 
character  of  the  highest  privilege  of  enlightened  freedom. 
In  making,  as  it  did,  the  issues  of  the  ballot-box  as  im 
portant  and  almost  as  desperate  as  those  of  the  battle 
field,  it  was  subjecting  the  franchise  to  a  strain  that  it 
could  not  bear  without  debauching,  in  some  measure,  the 
spirit  of  political  methods,  and,  thereby,  the  general  tone 
of  the  community.  In  the  contest  for  the  preservation 
of  certain  vital  social  and  political  principles,  a  subtle 
callousness  and  insensibility  were  spread  abroad  like  an 
insidious  and  corrupting  contagion. 

Though  the  cause  of  this  disturbance  and  the  fountain- 
head  of  these  pernicious  influences,  it  is  hard  to  condemn 
the  negro,  except  for  lack  of  political  judgment  and  sa 
gacity.  Owing  to  his  unscrupulous  advisers,  he  consid-" 
ered  himself  to  be  contending  at  the  polling  booth  for  a 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH.      65 

principle  more  fundamental  even  than  that  which  his 
former  master  was  seeking  to  maintain, — a  principle  that 
involved  the  various  rights  of  freedom,  if  not  freedom 
itself,  and  if  to  secure  that  principle  the  community  itself 
had  to  be  destroyed  and  every  institution  that  raised  it 
above  barbarism  completely  extinguished,  it  would  not 
have  been  unnatural  for  him  to  hail  the  catastrophe  with 
satisfaction,  if  it  prevented  him  from  being  relegated  to 
his  former  condition.  Happily,  circumstances  have 
arisen  which  have  done  much  to  prove  to  the  negro 
that  his  rights  are  not  at  all  endangered  by  the  triumph 
in  a  national  election  of  that  party  which  he  had  been 
taught  was  ready  to  deprive  him  of  all  his  privileges 
of  citizenship,  if  not  remand  him  to  the  servile  position 
which  he  once  occupied.  There  had  been  observed  for 
many  years  prior  to  1884  some  inclination  on  his  part  to 
vote  with  the  white  people  when  petty  local  offices  were 
to  be  filled,  an  evidence  that  he  was  learning  to  discrimi 
nate  between  elections  that  were  and  those  that  were  not 
vital  in  their  relation  to  what  he  deemed  to  be  the  danger 
of  his  position.  It  is  a  proof  also  that  he  was  not  ani 
mated  altogether  by  hostility  to  the  whites  in  his  deter 
mination  to  cast  his  ballot  in  opposition  to  them  when 
ever  the  issues  of  the  contest  were  of  the  broadest 
significance,  as,  for  instance,  in  presidential,  gubernatorial, 
and  legislative  elections  ;  there  was  a  well-defined  prin 
ciple  in  his  conduct,  upon  which  he  acted  with  not  the 
less  steadiness  because  it  was  founded  upon  an  erroneous 
idea.  A  considerable  change  of  sentiment  was  produced 
even  among  the  most  ignorant  members  of  his  race  by 
the  event  of  the  national  election  of  1884.  They 
observed  that  no  curtailment  of  their  personal  rights  re 
sulted  from  that  event  in  conformity  with  the  predic- 


66      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

tion  of  their  designing  leaders ;  they  were  not  only 
not  re-enslaved,  but  no  restriction  whatever  was  put 
upon  their  freedom  of  movement  ;  they  were  as  much 
at  liberty  as  they  ever  were  to  form  their  own  plans 
and  to  follow  out  the  dictates  of  their  own  judgment 
and  caprices.  This  was  a  revelation  of  much  importance 
to  them ;  and  it  has  not  been  without  effect  on  sub 
sequent  elections,  even  when  issues  were  involved  in 
these  that  would  have  influenced  the  negroes  formerly 
to  adhere  most  strictly  to  the  color  line.  It  is  true 
that  even  in  these  elections  the  great  majority  have  con 
tinued  to  vote  for  the  candidates  of  their  original  party,1 
but  many  have  done  so  by  the  mere  force  of  a  habit  grow 
ing  out  of  long  affiliation  with  it ;  a  sufficient  number  cast 
their  ballots  in  sympathy  with  the  opposite  party  to  dis 
close  that  their  ranks  were  not  wholly  intact.  There  is 
some  disposition  on  their  part  now  not  to  vote  at  all.  A 
political  apathy,  born  of  an  assured  sense  of  security,  has 
fallen  upon  many  of  the  race,  and  it  is  extending  to  a 
wider  circle.  A  spirit  of  indifference  has  sprung  up  that 
appears  to  be  contagious  ;  now  that  their  anxiety  has 
been  allayed,  they  value  the  right  of  suffrage  less  than 
they  formerly  did.  Gratitude  is  a  quality  that  enters 
very  little  into  their  character,  and  therefore  they  are 
not  led  to  support  persistently  and  actively  the  party 
that  set  them  free,  simply  because  it  emancipated  them 
from  slavery.  Few  impressions  linger  long  enough  in 
their  minds  to  govern  their  conduct,  and  a  recollection 
of  benefits  that  have  been  conferred  upon  them  is  not  to 
be  included  in  the  number.  They  voted  with  that  party, 
not  because  it  loosed  their  bonds,  but  because  they 
believed  that  their  rights  were  only  preserved  by  its 
1  The  Republican  party. 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH.      6? 

watchfulness  and  constant  intervention.  As  soon  as 
circumstances  banished  this  delusion,  then  that  adhesive 
principle  which  had  united  them  to  that  party  began  at 
once  to  relax,  because  no  emotion  as  lively  as  fear  was 
left  to  sustain  it  in  the  same  vigor,  and  none  is  likely  to 
be  called  into  existence  hereafter  that  will  have  the 
power  to  do  so.  A  new  and  rapidly  growing  danger  has 
arisen  in  consequence  of  this  increasing  latitude  of  politi 
cal  feeling  and  action  among  them.  It  would  be  impos 
sible  to  find  in  any  country  so  many  voters  whose  par- 
tisanry  conforms  with  more  immediate  sympathy  to  the 
seductions  of  bribery,  as  among  the  negroes  under  the 
pressure  of  that  change  of  sentiment  which  is  observed 
in  them  now  ;  and  this  venality  is  not  confined  to  the 
rank  and  file,  who  can  be  bought  up  for  a  mere  song,  but 
it  has  corrupted  even  the  most  alert  and  intelligent 
leaders  of  their  own  color,  who,  instead  of  setting  their 
fellows  a  good  example,  are  most  forward  in  receiving 
the  price  that  is  offered  for  their  influence. 

There  can  be  no  ground  for  doubt  that  if  the  negroes 
had  consulted  their  true  interests  they  would  have  voted 
in  accord  with  the  white  people  from  the  day  that  the 
right  of  suffrage  was  conferred  on  them,  since  all  that 
served  to  antagonize  the  two  races  reacted  very  much  to 
the  injury  of  the  weaker,  and  retarded  its  progress.  As 
a  great  body  of  land-owners,  and  as  the  chief  dispensers 
of  employment,  the  white  citizens  were  in  a  situation  to 
benefit  and  assist  their  former  slaves  ;  but  as  the  latter 
elected  to  combine  with  an  unscrupulous  and  unpatriotic 
white  faction,  and  to  cast  their  ballots  inimically  to  the 
permanent  welfare  of  the  community,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  some  acrimony  of  feeling  was  engendered  among 
those  who  suffered  most  in  consequence,  or  that  there 


68       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

should  have  been  some  disinclination  on  their  part  to  aid 
men  who  used  the  power  they  possessed  so  mischievously. 
The  substantial  kindness  of  the  whites  to  the  individual 
negro,  even  from  the  close  of  the  war,  however,  is  illus 
trated  by  the  fact  that  the  latter,  when  in  trouble,  has 
always  turned  to  them  as  constituting  his  best  friends 
after  all, — a  correct  and  just  view,  for  the  white  people 
have  been  disposed,  on  the  whole,  to  excuse  even  his 
most  turbulent  conduct  as  the  result  of  ignorance.  He 
may  be  such  a  partisan  as  to  assault  persons  of  his  own 
color  for  voting  for  his  employer,  and  yet  before  the  sun 
has  set  on  the  day  of  election,  he  will  perhaps  ask  an  im 
portant  favor  of  that  employer,  and  feel,  if  his  request  is 
complied  with,  that  it  is  only  what  he  has  a  right  to 
expect.  If  he  were  to  repress  that  unreasoning  and 
factious  spirit  of  political  opposition  which  he  has  dis 
played  at  the  very  moment  that  he  has  shown  his  confi 
dence  in  the  personal  kindness  of  the  whites,  then  the 
latter  would  be  much  more  inclined  than  they  are  now 
to  help  him  in  every  way.  The  numerical  strength  of 
the  blacks  has  always  been  a  source  of  much  anxiety  to 
their  former  masters,  because  it  put  so  much  that  vitally 
concerned  them  in  jeopardy.  If  this  fear  were  to  be  en 
tirely  removed  by  the  action  of  the  blacks  themselves, 
one  of  the  most  powerful  influences  that  perpetuates  the 
antipathy  of  the  white  people  to  that  race  would  be 
destroyed,  leaving  the  most  ample  room  for  the  play  of 
generous  emotions.  The  material  interests  of  the  two 
races  are  so  identical,  that  any  exasperating  cause  of 
disagreement  between  them  can  only  terminate  detri 
mentally  to  the  prosperity  of  the  community  in  which 
both  dwell.  Division  upon  the  color  line  merely  ren 
ders  the  antagonism  already  existing  more  intense,  and 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH.      69 

to  inflame  that  antagonism  periodically  is  to  create  a 
tendency  to  disorder  and  decay.  It  is  not  as  if  two 
parties,  separated  by  a  divergence  of  opinion  as  to  the 
propriety  of  ordinary  principles,  were  set  over  against 
each  other  ;  the  principles  here  go  down  to  the  root  of 
all  the  personal  relations  of  daily  life,  and  their  continual 
agitation  is  certain  to  excite  the  most  embittered  preju 
dice  and  hatred  in  those  who  adhere  to  either  side.  If 
this  agitation  were  to  cease,  and  all  forms  of  bribery 
were  repressed,  citizens  of  both  races  would,  under  the 
pressure  of  a  common  impulse,  move  forward  together  to 
vote  for  the  same  candidate  and  the  same  measures.  An 
emotion  of  gratitude  would  be  aroused  in  the  hearts  of 
the  white  people  in  consequence  of  the  dissipation  of 
that  solicitude  which  they  had  naturally  felt  with  respect 
to  the  stability  of  their  public  affairs.  It  would  then  be 
their  instinctive  inclination  as  well  as  their  selfish  inter 
est  to  foster  the  confidence  of  their  allies,  the  surest  way 
to  which  would  be  to  confer  many  personal  kindnesses 
upon  them,  and  to  extend  to  them  every  opportunity  of 
material  advancement.  With  their  attention  diverted 
from  politics,  the  negroes  themselves  would  probably 
direct  their  energies  more  strenuously  to  the  improve 
ment  of  their  general  condition  ;  and  in  any  event,  would 
become  a  much  less  dangerous  element  in  society. 

The  political  reconciliation  of  the  races  would  lead  to 
a  more  cheerful  and  willing  spirit  among  the  white  citi 
zens  in  allowing  the  negro  that  share  of  civil  rewards  to 
which  he  has  a  legal  right  to  aspire.  As  long  as  the  lat 
ter  stands  apart  in  a  distinct  political  organization  of  his 
own,  the  white  voters  will  be  as  little  disposed  to  honor 
him  as  they  are  to  honor  any  political  opponent.  But 
they  have  even  now  no  desire  to  deprive  him  of  the 


7O      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

right  to  hold  such  public  positions  as  he  is  competent 
to  fill  without  injury  to  the  general  prosperity.  They 
are,  however,  warmly  opposed  to  elevating  him  to  offices, 
the  duties  of  which  require  for  their  proper  perform 
ance  the  exercise  of  knowledge,  discretion,  and  firmness, 
for  it  is  in  these  qualities  that  the  negro  is  peculiarly  de 
ficient.  Such  offices,  for  instance,  are  those  of  supervi 
sors,  who  have  the  administration  of  the  county  finances  ; 
of  treasurers,  who  have  the  custody  of  the  county  funds  ; 
of  assessors,  who  estimate  the  value  of  personal  and  real 
property  ;  and  of  justices  of  the  peace,  who  are  the 
local  conservators  of  the  law.  These  demand  not  only 
special  fitness  in  the  point  of  capacity,  but  also  fidelity 
and  honesty  of  character,  and  are  of  more  local  import 
ance  than  the  charge  of  a  delegate  to  the  State  Legisla 
ture  even.  There  would  be  a  much  more  decided  incli 
nation  among  the  whites  to  overlook  even  the  infirmities 
of  the  negro,  in  distributing  political  rewards,  if  he  were 
to  lay  them  under  a  heavy  obligation  for  party  services. 
They  are  electing  him  now  to  subordinate  positions  in 
which  he  is  exposed  to  no  temptation,  or  his  ignorance 
can  do  little  harm  :  and  if  he  proves  himself  competent 
and  trustworthy,  he  will  undoubtedly  be  advanced  to 
positions  of  considerable  dignity  and  responsibility. 
This  already  occurs  sometimes  in  instances  where  he 
will  be  only  one  of  a  large  committee,  the  other  members 
being  left  to  put  such  check  upon  his  conduct  as  may  be 
necessary.  At  present  he  is  without  political  experience, 
without  moral  or  intellectual  strength,  and  without  that 
property  stake  in  the  community  that  would  make  him 
careful  and  conservative.  Even  as  it  is,  the  mere  force  of 
race  prejudice,  however  violently  it  might  influence  the 
dominant  class,  could  not  keep  him  down  in  the  obscurity 
of  private  life,  if  he  had  sufficient  ability  to  rise. 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH.      71 

The  negroes  have  produced  no  leaders  of  uncommon 
ability  among  themselves  ;  indeed,  no  individual  of  their 
race  has  appeared  who  has  shown  any  talent  for  organi 
zation,  or  any  capacity  for  grasping  the  most  enlightened 
ideas  of  policy,  or  disinterestedness  enough  to  be  in 
spired  by  the  highest  motives  of  patriotism.  The  typi 
cal  black  politician  has  been  as  destructive  in  his  ambi 
tions,  and  as  unscrupulous  in  his  methods,  as  the  worst 
of  his  white  associates,  and  far  more  venal.  As  a  public 
speaker,  he  has  developed  great  power  of  verbal  expres 
sion,  which  very  frequently  rises  to  a  phenomenal  ver 
bosity.  If  he  is  ever  at  a  loss  for  one  word,  he  quickly  sub 
stitutes  for  it  the  first  that  enters  his  mind,  whether  it  is 
apt  or  not  ;  the  longer  it  is,  and  the  more  difficult  to 
pronounce,  the  more  appropriate  it  seems  to  himself  and 
his  audience.  As  a  rule,  his  harangues  are  without  any 
relevancy  or  coherence  ;  mere  sound  without  sense  and 
violence  without  force  ;  strange  imitations  of  the  model 
which  he  is  aiming  to  copy  ;  a  gross  travesty,  indeed, 
that  would  be  ludicrous  but  for  the  number  of  voters 
whom  the  speaker  represents.  We  find  occasionally 
among  his  fellow  orators  one  who  uses  very  perspicu 
ous  language,  not  always  grammatical,  it  is  true,  but  not 
faulty  enough  to  weaken  the  strength  of  a  fairly  logical 
argument.  There  is  a  sophomoric  ring  to  most  of  their 
speeches,  however  correct,  that  discloses  the  imaginative 
turn  or  the  childish  immaturity  of  their  faculties.  They 
never  lose  their  self-possession  on  the  rostrum,  however 
awkward  the  situation  apparently  ;  all  interruptions, 
though  hostile  and  calculated  to  confuse  being  re 
ceived  with  entire  serenity  of  mind  and  blandness  of 
demeanor.  During  the  course  of  an  active  canvass,  they 
deliver  many  speeches  on  the  Court  green  at  every  meet 
ing  of  the  County  Court,  but  they  are  seen  in  their  proud- 


72       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

est  role  in  the  local  conventions,  that  meet  to  nominate 
candidates.  The  negro  shows  here  a  very  amusing  re 
spect  for  parliamentary  terms  and  usages,  since  he  is  to 
the  extent  of  his  knowledge  an  uncompromising  stick 
ler  for  parliamentary  etiquette  in  its  different  forms.  No 
where  else  is  that  curious  pomposity  of  manner  and  lan 
guage,  which  he  falls  into  at  once,  when  struck  with  a 
sense  of  his  own  importance,  so  fully  displayed.  His 
imitative  turn  becomes  most  conspicuous  under  the  ex 
treme  dignity  and  solemnity  of  his  deportment,  because 
these  are  lacking  in  the  essential  element  of  simplicity. 
As  members  of  political  committees  although  they 
may  nominally  occupy  the  leading  position,  the  blacks, 
as  a  rule,  appear  to  great  disadvantage,  for  they  have 
no  executive  ability,  which  is  a  logical  result  of  the 
fact  that  they  are  without  power  of  concentrated  thought 
and  attention,  and  are  indifferent  to  the  means,  however 
eager  to  reach  the  end.  Those  who  have  obtained  seats 
in  the  Legislature,  have  won  no  special  reputation  for 
practical  capacity  by  an  intelligent  devotion  to  business  • 
and  as  they  are  generally  silent  members,  or  wandering 
and  irrelevant  when  they  have  risen  to  their  feet,  they 
have  exercised  no  marked  influence  on  the  enactment  of 
laws,  except  by  the  votes  they  cast.  Indeed,  the  majority 
have  not  been  at  all  superior  to  the  mass  of  their  race  in 
force  of  character  or  intellect  ;  many,  in  fact,  have  been 
inferior,  and  their  election  to  a  position  of  so  much  re. 
sponsibility  can  only  be  explained  on  the  ground  of  acci 
dent.  The  prominence  of  the  office  they  occupy  only 
brings  out  into  the  broadest  contrast  their  incompetence 
to  represent  the  interests  of  their  own  people,  much  less 
advance  the  general  prosperity  of  a  commonwealth. 
The  preachers  of  the  negroes  are  their  most  active 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH.      73 

politicians,  as  a  rule,  but  even  when  they  are  not  they 
have  much  political  influence,  for  they  constitute,  indi 
vidually,  the  natural  leaders  of  their  race,  being  elevated 
to  their  clerical  position  not  because  they  are  men  of 
greater  holiness  of  life  or  eloquence  of  tongue  than  the 
rest  of  their  fellows,  but  because  they  have  more  energy 
and  decision  of  character.  Each  one  brings  these  quali 
ties  to  bear  on  all  occasions  of  public  agitation  from  that 
conspicuous  coigne  of  vantage,  his  pulpit,  which  thus 
becomes  a  rostrum,  the  religious  doctrines  enunciated 
from  thence,  taking  the  color  of  his  political  principles, 
just  as,  on  the  other  hand,  his  political  harangues  have  a 
religious  echo.  The  two  parts  of  minister  and  orator  are 
played  so  skilfully  at  one  and  the  same  time  that  it  is 
impossible  to  distinguish  them  ;  and  the  affairs  of  the 
Hereafter  and  a  contemporary  political  canvass  are 
mixed  in  inextricable  confusion.  His  church  is  thus 
converted  into  a  political  organization  that  is  consoli 
dated  by  the  religious  fervor  that  pervades  it,  and  pro 
pelled  towards  a  single  political  end  by  a  religious 
enthusiasm  that  expects  to  be  rewarded  spiritually  for 
the  performance  of  partisan  duties.  The  preacher  play 
ing  alternately  upon  the  political  passions  and  religious 
fears  of  his  congregation,  or  upon  both  at  once,  excites 
an  emotional  responsiveness  that  is  prepared  to  obey  his 
slightest  injunctions  ;  and  he  does  not  hesitate  to  turn 
this  exalted  state  of  feeling  to  the  most  useful  account. 

The  political  mass-meeting  of  the  negroes  is  held  after 
nightfall,  for  it  is  only  at  that  late  hour  that  the  laborers 
can  attend.  The  spot  selected  is  illuminated  by  the 
glare  of  torches  ;  and  what  with  the  waving  lights,  the 
darkness  of  the  background  of  forest,  the  gleaming  of 
the  foliage  overhead,  the  dimly  outlined  forms  of  men 


74       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

huddled  together,  the  strident  voices  of  the  speakers, 
and  the  low  murmurs  of  assent  rising  from  their  audi 
tors,  the  scene  is  strangely  picturesque  in  its  physical 
aspects  and  impressive  in  its  political  suggestions.  It  is 
a  strong  proof  of  the  timidity  of  the  negroes  that  they 
have  not  often  been  impelled  by  these  occasions,  the  in 
fluences  of  which  are  always  violent  and  incendiary,  to 
inflict  the  grossest  injury  upon  the  white  people,  but  ex 
cepting  a  certain  moroseness  and  sullenness  of  demeanor, 
their  employers  observe  no  evidence  even  on  the  follow 
ing  day  of  the  emotions  of  anger  and  hatred  that  had 
inflamed  their  minds  so  recently. 

Through  such  men  and  means  as  these,  supplemented 
by  the  white  leaders,  to  whom  reference  has  already  been 
made,  the  negroes  have  obtained  the  whole  of  their  po 
litical  knowledge  ;  and  that  knowledge,  if  such  scanty 
and  defective  information  as  they  have,  with  respect  to 
political  principles,  can  be  spoken  of  properly  as  knowl 
edge  at  all,  has  been  distorted  by  the  medium  through 
which  it  has  been  transmitted.  Few  are  even  aware  that 
there  is  such  an  institution  as  the  press.  That  powerful 
engine  for  shaping  public  opinion  does  not  reach  them 
at  all  ;  it  does  not  even  reflect  such  political  opinions  as 
they  may  entertain.  Its  force  of  reason  and  passion  is 
lost  on  the  black  voters  who  toil  in  the  fields  or  loll 
about  the  stores  ;  to  whom  the  newspaper  is  only  a 
species  of  material  in  which  the  groceries  they  purchase 
at  the  stores  are  wrapt- for  security  and  protection.  The 
great  mass  of  these  voters  are  dumb  until  the  day  of 
election.  While  the  political  fervor  of  the  whites  is 
breaking  forth  in  so  many  audible  and  visible  ways, 
from  the  hustings,  in  processions,  and  through  the  party 
organs,  expressing  itself  from  dawn  until  midnight  in  the 


THE   NEGRO'  AND  THE   COMMONWEALTH.      ?$ 

thousand  reverberating  sounds  that  roll  from  hill  to  hill 
and  valley  to  valley,  the  comparative  silence  and  secre- 
tiveness  of  the  political  sentiment  of  the  negroes  inspire 
both  awe  and  fear,  so  ominous  do  they  seem,  and  so  in 
dicative  of  a  strength  that  is  to  be  dreaded  all  the  more 
because  it  is  wholly  numerical.  Messengers,  with  the 
proper  instructions,  have  flitted  from  settlement  to  settle 
ment,  as  if  they  were  passing  the  watchword  to  an  army 
of  soldiers  off  duty,  with  the  injunction  that  it  shall  be 
preserved  from  disclosure  until  the  hour  for  action 
arrives.  And  when  the  polls  are  thrown  open  the 
colored  voters  run  together  by  a  common  impulse  from 
field  and  forest,  and  cast  their  ballots  with  the  regularity 
and  precision  of  a  military  organization.  It  is  too  much, 
perhaps,  to  expect  that  men  so  recently  emancipated, 
and  as  credulous  and  illiterate  as  they  are,  would  show 
on  such  an  occasion  the  influence  of  the  most  enlightened 
principles.  Studying  their  political  spirit  as  then  dis 
played,  and  without  considering  the  alleviating  circum 
stances,  it  is  palpable  that  they  do  not  ;  such  an  expres 
sion  as  the  public  good,  the  commonwealth,  is  without 
force  of  meaning  to  their  minds.  A  people  who  lack,  as 
they  do,  the  pride  of  race  are  incapable  of  the  most  dis 
interested  emotions  of  patriotism  ;  a  people  as  heedless, 
thoughtless,  and  restless  as  they  are  can  never  exalt  the 
interests  of  the  community  above  their  own.  They  seem 
to  have  some  local  attachment,  but  the  fireside,  the  home, 
the  family  are  not  invested  in  their  minds  with  the  pro 
found  meaning  which  is  the  secret  of  that  love  which  all 
the  nationalities  of  mankind  feel  for  their  respective 
lands,  and  without  which  this  love  of  country  cannot 
exist  in  its  highest  perfection  ;  the  consequence  is  that 
the  negroes  entertain  no  sentimental  devotion  whatever 


76       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

for  their  native  soil.  Education,  to  the  extent  to  which 
it  has  been  carried,  has  not  cultivated  or  even  produced 
this  spirit  of  patriotism  by  expanding  the  range  of  their 
thoughts  and  feelings  ;  instead  of  broadening  their  ideas, 
it  appears  to  have  only  increased  their  egotism  and  their 
contempt  for  their  race.  So  far  they  have  made  no  real 
progress  in  identifying  themselves  in  a  temperate  way 
with  the  duties  and  privileges  of  citizenship.  Those 
who  have  sought  to  play  a  political  part  of  prominence 
have  resembled  only  overgrown  children  making  a  pre 
tense  at  statesmanship,  while  the  great  majority  have 
acted  blindly  upon  the  impulses  of  hatred  and  fear  or,  at 
best,  of  personal  gain.  All  classes  of  the  race  are  much 
less  in  accord  with  the  true  spirit  of  our  government 
than  foreigners  from  despotic  countries  who  have  been 
naturalized.  There  is  no  true  affinity  between  them  and 
the  institutions  under  which  they  live  ;  and  whether  they 
will  ever  grow  into  harmony  with  these  institutions,  is  a 
question  upon  which  the  future  alone  can  throw  any  de 
cisive  light. 


VI. 

THE   NEGRO   AND   THE   CRIMINAL  LAW. 

WHEN  we  observe  the  negroes  as  a  mass,  we  find  that 
they  violate  the  principal  clauses  of  the  Criminal  Code 
less  often  than  we  would  be  led  to  expect  at  first  ;  but  it 
is  not  a  ground  of  surprise  when  we  have  obtained  an 
insight  into  the  general  character  of  the  individuals  of 
the  race.  It  is  true  that  they  are  very  impulsive,  this 
being  perhaps  the  most  prominent  trait  of  their  disposi 
tion  ;  but  they  rarely  become  desperate  and  turbulent  by 
the  force  of  the  most  vehement  passion,  except  when 
under  the  dominion  of  an  ardent  physical  appetite.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  of  their  peculiarities  is,  that 
they  have  little  capacity  for  receiving  a  profound  im 
pression,  although  the  circumstances  surrounding  them 
may  seem  to  be  such  as  to  create  it  inevitably.  If  such 
an  impression  is  ever  made,  it  is  soon  obliterated.  Their 
ideas  change  as  rapidly  and  unaccountably  as  their 
emotions.  They  do  not  continue  long  enough  in  one 
state  of  mind,  however  intense  at  the  moment,  for  it  to 
color  their  behavior  for  any  length  of  time.  Unless, 
therefore,  they  act  at  once  when  under  the  influence  of  the 
passing  anger  which  sometimes  sways  them  so  violently 
when  they  happen  to  have  cause  for  the  warmest  resent 
ment,  they  are  not  apt  to  act  at  all,  so  quickly  is  their  exas 
peration  of  feeling  dissipated  ;  but  while  it  lasts,  they  do 
not  shrink  from  perpetrating  any  crime,  however  heinous, 

77 


78       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

or  however  easily  detected.  It  is  in  this  humor  and 
under  such  pressure  as  this,  that  nearly  all  the  gross 
violations  of  law  that  are  brought  home  to  them  are 
committed.  Their  power  of  mental  concentration  is  not 
sufficient  to  ensure  the  steadiness  and  constancy  that 
are  necessary  to  the  success  of  a  malicious  purpose  that 
has  to  be  executed  with  deliberation  ;  in  other  words, 
they  lack  the  ability  to  carry  out  a  criminal  design  with 
skill  and  foresight,  simply  because  they  are  wanting  in 
the  qualities  of  subtlety,  prudence  and  steadfastness. 
Oddly  as  it  may  sound,  the  absence  of  a  resolute 
and  scheming  vindictiveness  in  the  character  of  the 
negro  is  one  of  the  most  convincing  indications  of  his 
moral  feebleness,  since  that  absence,  in  his  instance,  is 
not  due  to  generosity  and  magnanimity,  but  to  fickleness 
and  instability.  It  should  not  be  forgotten,  too,  that 
his  usual  temper  is  mild  and  easy,  reflecting  in  its 
brightness  and  cheerfulness  the  sunny  climate  of  his 
primitive  continent.  The  courage  of  his  race,  if  that 
race  had  been  great,  would  have  sunk  into  a  sinister 
moodiness  beneath  the  burden  of  sorrow  and  humiliation 
that  weighed  it  down  for  centuries,  without  any  prospect 
of  relief.  How  swiftly  under  those  cruel  strokes  of  for 
tune  a  people  less  pliant  or  less  servile  would  have 
disappeared  from  the  family  of  mankind  !  There  is  no 
chapter  in  history  more  pathetic  than  that  which  records 
the  rapid  extinction  of  the  West  Indian  aborigines  under 
the  harsh  and  exacting  tyranny  of  their  Spanish  task 
masters.  The  negroes,  on  the  contrary,  emerged  from 
the  darkness  of  an  institution  that  deprived  them  of  the 
chief  privileges  of  life,  with  the  original  sprightliness 
and  joyousness  of  their  nature  undiminished.  They  are 
to-day  in  full  possession  of  all  those  social  qualities  that 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL  LAW.        ?g 

distinguished  their  remote  ancestors,  and  which  have 
remained  unmodified  in  the  race  at  every  subsequent 
period  in  spite  of  the  vicissitudes  through  which  it  has 
passed.  Among  these  qualities  the  most  conspicuous 
still,  is  a  careless  and  thoughtless  good-humor,  which, 
however,  can  harden  into  a  barbarous  cruelty  occa 
sionally. 

There  is  another  quality  which  is  still  more  influential 
in  preventing  the  negro  from  giving  extreme  expression 
to  his  malicious  emotions,  namely,  his  timidity  ;  as  a 
rule,  he  is  destitute  of  that  manly  force  of  mind  which 
would  stimulate  him  to  press  forward  in  a  hazardous 
enterprise  without  a  confusing  apprehension  of  contem 
porary  peril,  or  that  would  cause  him  to  meet  the  shock 
of  that  peril,  when  it  comes,  with  rational  firmness.  As 
long  as  he  knows  that  it  is  not  an  immediate  accompani 
ment  of  an  adventure,  he  is  not  reluctant  to  engage  in 
it,  for  his  understanding  has  little  prospective  scope. 
It  is  a  present  and  not  a  future  risk  and  jeopardy  that  he 
fears.  His  sensitiveness  to  danger  in  one  form,  as  in 
the  commission  of  a  burglary,  for  example,  must,  how 
ever,  be  carefully  discriminated  from  his  indifference  to 
it  in  another,  as,  for  instance,  in  riding  an  unbroken 
colt ;  his  nervous  organization  seems  to  be  such  that  all 
of  his  sensations  of  physical  pain  are  dull,  and  his  imagi 
nation  shows  a  corresponding  heaviness  and  stolidity, 
when  he  is  placed  in  ordinary  situations  that  are  likely 
to  result  in  suffering  to  himself.  It  is  not  the  probability 
of  being  maimed  or  killed  that  disheartens  him  so  much 
even  in  a  burglarious  attempt  ;  it  is  rather  the  uncer 
tainty  as  to  the  exact  character  of  the  peril  which  he  is 
confronting,  and  the  moment  it  may  work  him  harm. 
Here,  too,  he  has  human  intelligence  and  not  brute  in- 


80      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

stinct  to  contend  with  ;  and  the  darkness   surrounding 
him  shakes  his  resolution  by  magnifying  his  terrors. 

If  the  presumption  of  the  negro,  when  he  is  disposed 
to  be  aggressive  in  his  bearing,  is  met  in  a  spirit  that  is 
prepared,  on  the  instant,  to  retaliate,  he  shrinks  back 
with  the  greatest  anxiety  for  his  own  safety.  And  yet 
the  same  negro  would  not  hesitate  to  mount  an  untamed 
horse  that  would  dash  him  to  the  ground  if  it  could 
weaken  his  seat  on  its  back  ;  and  he  displays  like  insen 
sibility  when  he  ascends  the  scaffold  and  beholds  the 
awful  instruments  that  are  to  consummate  his  impending 
doom.  His  eyes  are  as  clear,  his  hands  as  steady,  and 
his  voice  as  free  from  tremor  as  if  he  belonged  to  the 
mass  of  disinterested  spectators  present,  instead  of  being 
the  central  figure  of  the  occasion,  and,  as  such,  standing 
upon  the  edge  of  the  yawning  abyss  of  eternity.  There 
would  be  an  element  of  sublimity  in  his  patience  and 
serenity  here,  if  these  did  not  have  their  origin  in  apathy. 
He  discloses  the  same  obtuseness  everywhere  else,  unless 
the  danger  to  which  he  is  exposed  proceeds  directly 
from  the  inimical  acts  of  persons.  It  is  largely  this  fear 
of  a  personal  conflict  that  restrains  the  plantation  negro 
from  perpetrating  more  atrocious  crimes  than  he  does, 
for,  amiable  as  he  is,  there  is  a  latent  ferocity  in  his 
nature.  That  indifference  to  the  suffering  of  others, 
which  so  often  causes  him,  even  when  unprovoked,  to 
lash  his  oxen  without  pity,  to  kick  and  maim  his  faithful 
dog,  and  to  reprove  or  strike  his  children  with  improper 
roughness,  would  be  shown  still  more  plainly  if  he  could 
act  under  all  circumstances  with  the  license  of  absolute 
despotism.  As  he  has  generally  few  scruples  and  little 
power  of  self-control,  it  would  be  difficult  to  predict 
what  would  be  the  limit  of  his  excesses  when  his  anger 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL  LAW.        8 1 

was  thoroughly  aroused.  This  is  foreshadowed  in  the 
character  of  the  requests  which  he  makes  of  the  trick 
doctors  when  he  seeks  the  aid  of  the  latter  in  carrying 
out  his  schemes  of  vengeance  ;  death  is  one  of  the  many 
forms  of  injury  which  he  desires  to  inflict  through  the 
secret  agency  of  the  fatal  charms  and  potions  of  these 
trusted  and  influential  impostors. 

Entering  into  a  more  particularized  examination  of 
the  criminal  record  of  the  blacks,  we  find  that  the  greater 
number  of  the  brawls  in  which  individuals  of  their  race 
are  involved  among  themselves  have  their  incentive  in 
the  vehement  passions  aroused  by  heated  disputes  as  to 
proprietorship  in  women.  This  is  the  point  of  conten 
tion  which  is  most  frequently  raised,  and  at  times  it  is 
only  settled  by  a  resort  to  violence  as  desperate  as  it  is 
impetuous  ;  in  the  struggle  no  quarter  is  expected  or  al 
lowed,  and  it  is  only  terminated  by  the  hasty  retirement 
or  the  complete  disablement  of  one  of  the  parties.  The 
final  scenes  of  drunken  frolics,  too,  are  often  stained 
with  blood,  but  excepting  instances  of  this  kind,  in  which 
the  negroes  are  spurred  on  by  their  appetites,  their  quar 
rels  are  rarely  sanguinary,  however  licentious  the  verbal 
expression  given  to  them.  The  weapon  employed  in 
these  frantic  assaults  is  occasionally  the  razor,1  which 
they  can  wield  with  a  skill  and  precision  as  fatal  to  its 
victim  as  it  is  appalling  in  the  mere  physical  aspect  of 
the  slashing  done.  They  sometimes  carry  this  instru 
ment  about  their  persons  unobserved,  whipping  it  out  on 
the  most  unexpected  occasions  ;  it  being  an  admirable 
means  of  attack  or  defence,  because  it  combines  the 

1  The  razor  is  used  as  a  weapon  by  the  negroes  far  oftener  in  the 
towns  and  villages,  or  along  lines  of  railway,  than  in  the  secluded 
rural  districts. 


82       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

highest  effectiveness  with  the  greatest  convenience,  since 
it  is  readily  hidden  in  a  small  space  in  the  clothing.  A 
sheath-knife  is  too  large  to  conceal  thus,  and  too  awkward 
to  stick  in  the  belt ;  above  all,  its  appearance  is  so 
dangerous  that  it  throws  its  owner  himself  into  a  fright. 
The  aspect  of  a  pistol  is  still  more  formidable  ;  it  is 
prudently  eschewed  for  that  reason,  and  properly  so,  for 
the  negroes,  being  thoughtless  and  heedless,  are  in  far 
more  danger  of  shooting  themselves  accidentally  when 
they  carry  such  firearms  than  of  implanting  a  bullet  in 
their  adversary.  The  razor  is  terrible  in  execution,  but, 
nevertheless,  excites  no  instinctive  apprehension  for 
their  lives  in  the  persons  handling  it. 

The  negro  is  not  disposed  to  have  affrays  with  mem 
bers  of  the  other  race,  his  natural  peaceableness  being  in 
creased  in  his  association  with  white  men  by  that  restrain 
ing  spirit  of  subserviency  to  them  which  still  lingers  in 
his  heart.  This  is  disclosed  in  the  fact  that  it  is  very 
rare  that  he  seeks  to  kill  a  white  man  by  an  open  and 
direct  assault.  When  such  a  man  is  murdered,  it  is,  as  a 
rule,  the  result  of  a  sudden  scheme  on  the  part  of  two  or 
three  negroes  for  the  purpose  of  securing  money  which 
they  know  to  be  secreted  about  his  person,  and  the  deed 
is  always  committed  with  a  degree  of  atrocity  that  is  un 
surpassed  in  the  criminal  annals  of  any  country.  Even 
here  the  negligent  character  of  the  race  is  curiously  ap 
parent.  The  guilty  companions  do  not  attempt  to 
remove  the  various  traces  of  their  crime  ;  the  act  is  com 
mitted  with  awkward  but  relentless  coolness  and  ferocity, 
the  booty  is  collected,  and  then  the  spot  is  deserted, 
being  left  with  every  evidence  of  the  fatal  struggle,  includ 
ing  the  corpse  itself,  to  bear  silent  testimony  to  the  awful 
details  of  the  tragedy  of  which  it  has  recently  been  the 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL  LA  W.        83 

scene.  They  do  not  even  endeavor  to  escape  from  the 
neighborhood  afterwards,  or  to  take  any  precaution  that 
will  avert  suspicion  from  themselves  as  the  perpetrators  of 
the  crime  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  often  boldly  display  arti 
cles  which  they  acquired  by  it,  which  inevitably  implicate 
them.  The  final  detection  of  the  parties  to  such  crime  is 
always  assured,  not  only  because  there  are  so  many  clues 
that  set  the  officers  upon  the  proper  track,  but  also  because 
the  parties  generally  confess,  in  their  terror,  the  moment 
that  they  are  accused.  The  total  amount  of  money  ob 
tained  by  most  of  these  murderers  for  pecuniary  gain,  is 
so  small  a  sum  that  it  is  surprising  that  they  should  run 
even  the  risks  of  ordinary  robbery  to  get  possession  of  it. 
Rape  is  the  most  frightful  crime  which  the  negroes 
commit  against  the  white  people,  and  their  disposition  to 
perpetrate  it  has  increased  in  spite  of  the  quick  and 
summary  punishment  that  always  follows  ;  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  this  disposition  will  grow  in  proportion  as  that 
vague  respect  which  the  blacks  still  entertain  for  a  white 
skin  declines.  There  is  something  strangely  alluring  and 
seductive  to  them  in  the  appearance  of  a  white  woman  ; 
they  are  aroused  and  stimulated  by  its  foreignness  to  their 
experience  of  sexual  pleasures,  and  it  moves  them  to 
gratify  their  lust  at  any  cost  and  in  spite  of  every  ob 
stacle.  This  proneness  of  the  negro  is  so  well  under 
stood  that  the  white  women  of  every  class,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  are  afraid  to  venture  to  any  dis 
tance  alone,  or  even  to  wander  unprotected  in  the  imme 
diate  vicinity  of  their  homes  ;  their  appreciation  of  the 
danger  being  as  keen,  and  their  apprehension  of  corporal 
injury  as  vivid,  as  if  the  country  were  in  arms.  If  it 
were  not  for  this  prudence  and  caution  on  their  part,  as 
well  as  the  capital  punishment  that  ensues  so  swiftly,  this 


84       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

crime  would  be  far  more  frequent  than  it  is.  It  occurs 
often  enough,  however,  to  inflame  the  aversion  of  the 
white  people  to  the  race  to  a  heat  that  leaves  a  per 
manent  impression  upon  their  general  relations  with  its 
members  ;  and  not  unnaturally,  for  rape,  indescribably 
beastly  and  loathsome  always,  is  marked,  in  the  instance 
of  its  perpetration  by  a  negro,  by  a  diabolical  persistence 
and  a  malignant  atrocity  of  detail  that  have  no  reflection 
in  the  whole  extent  of  the  natural  history  of  the  most 
bestial  and  ferocious  animals.  He  is  not  content  merely 
with  the  consummation  of  his  purpose,  but  takes  that 
fiendish  delight  in  the  degradation  of  his  victim  which 
he  always  shows  when  he  can  reek  his  vengeance  upon 
one  whom  he  has  hitherto  been  compelled  to  fear  ;  and, 
here,  the  white  woman  in  his  power  is,  for  the  time  being, 
the  representative  of  that  race  which  has  always  over 
awed  him.  That  this  feeling  enters  largely  into  the 
motive  of  this  crime  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  he  is 
guilty  of  it  as  often  against  women  who  are  very  much 
advanced  in  years  as  against  those  who  have  not  passed 
the  period  of  their  youth.  His  invariable  impulse  after 
the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose  is  to  murder  his  vic 
tim,  that  being  the  only  means  suggested  to  his  mind  of 
escaping  the  consequence  of  the  act,  and  this  impulse  is 
carried  into  effect  with  the  utmost  barbarity,  unless  he  is 
accidently  interrupted  and  frightened  off. 

The  average  plantation  negro  does  not  consider  rape 
to  be  a  very  heinous  crime.  He  is  so  accustomed  to  the 
wantonness  of  the  women  of  his  own  race  that  it  is  not 
strange  that  his  intellect,  having  no  perception  of  per 
sonal  dignity  or  the  pangs  of  outraged  feeling,  should  be 
unable  to  gauge  the  terrible  character  of  this  offense 
against  the  integrity  of  virtuous  womanhood,  even  apart 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL  LAW.         85 

from  the  cruel  wrong  of  associating  it  in  such  a  way 
with  manhood  that  is  most  vile,  brutal,  and  depraved. 
The  rape  of  a  negress  by  a  male  of  her  own  color  is  al 
most  unheard  of,  a  fact  that  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  sex 
ual  laxness  of  the  plantation  women  as  a  class  ;  for  if 
they  attached  any  importance  to  sexual  purity,  and  strenu 
ously  resisted  all  improper  encroachment  upon  it,  the 
criminal  records  of  the  negro  men  would  contain  details 
of  many  such  assaults.  As  it  is,  their  careers  are  com 
paratively  unblemished  in  this  respect. 

The  poisoning  of  persons  is  not  a  common  crime  among 
the  blacks,  perhaps  because  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  the 
proper  substance,  there  being  no  noxious  herbs  in  the 
local  botany  from  which  they  can  distil  what  they  need, 
and  at  the  country  stores  only  the  coarsest  articles  for 
the  purpose  can  be  purchased.  In  the  instances  of  poi 
soning  that  occur  a  female  domestic  servant  is  often  the 
principal  party  implicated,  because  she  frequently  has 
access  to  medicines  that  are  deadly  if  administered  in 
large  quantities,  however  harmless  when  the  doses  are 
small,  and  she  would  not  hesitate  to  use  these  against 
master  or  mistress,  or  their  children,  or  against  indi 
viduals  of  her  own  race,  if  she  had  a  fierce  impulse  of 
revenge  or  resentment  to  gratify.  The  plantation  laborers, 
on  the  other  hand,  generally  make  use  of  the  torch  if 
they  wish  to  vent  the  force  of  their  anger  to  the  detri 
ment  of  their  employer  for  having  offended  them.  It  is 
rare  that  they  go  so  far  as  to  set  fire  to  the  dwelling  in 
which  he  lives,  but  in  the  privacy  of  darkness  the  skulk 
ing  incendiaries  will  enkindle  a  flame  beneath  his  barns 
and  cribs,  in  which  the  crops  of  a  whole  year  may  be 
stowed  away,  which  soon  reduces  them  and  their  valuable 
contents  to  ashes.  So  much  fear  has  the  planter  of  this 


86      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

outrage  being  committed,  and  so  apprehensive  is  he  of 
the  resulting  pecuniary  loss,  that  he  discharges  his  em 
ploye's  with  reluctance,  although  his  reasons  for  doing 
so  may  be  imperative,  and  he  seeks  as  far  as  he  can  to 
allay  the  exasperation  which  they  may  feel  when  dis 
missed.  He  is  very  much  influenced,  for  the  same  reason, 
to  avoid  all  vehement  contention  with  them  that  would 
be  likely  to  arouse  permanent  irritation. 

It  is  remarkable  how  slow  the  negroes  are  to  enter, 
with  burglarious  intent,  the  premises  occupied  by  the 
planter  and  his  family  as  a  residence.  They  are  gov 
erned  here  by  various  feelings.  In  the  first  place,  they 
still  have  that  traditional  fear  of  a  white  man,  to  which 
allusion  has  already  been  made  ;  in  the  second,  they  lack 
not  only  the  fortitude,  but  also  the  ingenuity  that  is 
necessary  to  carry  out  a  complicated  and  perilous  enter 
prise.  Even  if  they  were  to  stiffen  their  courage  to  the 
point  of  making  the  venture,  they  could  be  easily  fright 
ened  off.  A  small  but  loud  barking  dog  would  throw 
their  best-laid  plan  into  such  confusion  that  they  would 
probably  find  it  impossible  to  rally  to  its  accomplish 
ment.  The  planter,  therefore,  is  not  inclined  to  antici 
pate  that  his  laborers,  or  those  of  his  neighbors,  will 
break  into  his  house  at  night,  if  he  has  taken  the  ordi 
nary  precautions  against  such  an  intrusion.  It  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  his  own  employes  look  upon  the 
precincts  of  his  dwelling  as  sacred  ;  even  if  they  entered 
it  on  a  legitimate  errand  during  the  day,  they  would  be 
very  ill  at  ease  there,  and  so  whimsical  is  the  temper  of 
the  race,  that  their  courage  would  be  dashed  merely  by 
the  certainty  of  feeling  equally  as  uncomfortable  if  they 
broke  in  for  a  criminal  purpose  after  darkness  had  fallen. 
They  recognize,  too,  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  them 
to  dispose  of  any  valuable  article  found  there,  for  to 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL  LAW.        8/ 

offer  such  an  article  for  sale  in  the  isolated  country-sides 
would  be  to  expose  themselves  to  suspicion  and,  in  the 
end,  to  detection.  They  have  no  confederates  in  town 
to  whom  they  can  forward  their  booty,  and  if  they  were 
bold  enough  to  use  or  enjoy  it  in  their  daily  life,  the  eye 
of  their  employer  would  discover  at  once  their  connec 
tion  with  the  crime  from  which  he  had  suffered, 

The  most  confirmed  criminal  habit  of  the  plantation 
negro  is  petit  larceny  ;  this  infirmity  is  so  common  that 
there  are  comparatively  few  individuals  of  his  race  and 
condition  who  will  not  yield  to  the  temptation  to  take 
what  does  not  belong  to  them.  An  opportunity  to  filch 
is  generally  turned  to  profitable  account,  unless  the  risk 
of  detection  is  imminent,  and  even  then  this  risk  is 
usually  ignored  if  the  object  that  excites  the  thievish 
itch  is  something  that  will  satisfy  a  physical  craving. 
This  disposition  to  pilfer  is  confined,  as  a  rule,  to  those 
articles  that  gratify  the  appetites,  for  the  aesthetic  sense 
of  the  negro  is  so  rude  that  it  does  not  occur  to  him  to 
purloin  property  simply  because  it  is  beautiful.  This  is 
illustrated  in  the  instance  of  the  house  servant :  he  can 
be  trusted  to  go  alone  into  those  parts  of  the  dwelling 
where  the  most  expensive  articles  of  adornment  and 
ornamentation  are  preserved,  but  to  admit  him  without 
supervision  into  the  room  where  the  groceries  are  stored, 
is  to  put  him  in  a  situation  in  which  he  can  rarely  resist 
abstracting  as  much  as  he  can  conceal  about  his  person. 
Such  costly  articles  as  china  or  silver  can  be  left  to 
him  with  much  more  safety  than  the  keys  to  the  house 
keeper's  department.1  The  same  trait  is  detected  in  the 

1  In  the  first  place,  because  the  abstraction  of  china  and  sil 
ver  would  be  at  once  detected,  and  be  more  severely  punished. 
In  the  second  place,  such  valuable  articles  cannot  be  disposed  of  in 
the  rural  districts.  Their  beauty,  however,  constitutes  no  element 
of  temptation. 


88       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A    FREEMAN. 

laborer  :  he  is  not  inclined  to  break  into  the  precincts  of 
his  employer's  residence,  or  even  into  the  various  divi 
sions  of  the  plantation  store,  although  it  contains  much 
that  he  desires  to  possess  ;  it  is  the  watermelon  patch, 
the  kitchen-garden,  the  orchard,  the  corn  pile,  the  meat 
house,  that  are  in  most  danger  of  his  obtrusive  fingers. 
The  prospect  of  these  being  rifled  is  constant  enough  to 
require  a  permanent  guard  for  their  protection. 

So  well  is  this  propensity  known,  that  the  negroes  are 
not  permitted  by  the  planter  for  whom  they  may  be 
working  to  fatten  more  than  two  hogs  apiece  each 
season.  Even  two  are  allowed  them  with  reluctance, 
because  they  are  provoked  to  supply  these  animals  with 
food  from  the  fields  of  growing  corn,  the  ears  being 
pulled  under  the  cover  of  darkness,  and  the  deficiency 
being  left  to  disclose  itself  in  the  late  autumn  when  the 
grain  is  harvested.  As  it  is,  the  laborers  are  tempted,  at 
the  proper  season  for  penning  pigs,  to  rob  the  range  of 
shoats  to  avoid  incurring  the  expense  of  purchasing 
them.  When  that  season  arrives,  the  number  of  pigs 
running  at  large  is  always  very  seriously  diminished  ;  and 
in  their  capture  the  rogues  must  display  considerable  skill 
and  ingenuity,  for  they  are  rarely  discovered  in  the  act. 

The  planters  are  very  much  opposed  to  the  owners  of 
the  country  stores  receiving  corn  in  liquidation  of  debts, 
as  their  laborers  are  stimulated  to  break  into  the  cribs 
and  barns  in  order  to  obtain  the  grain,  with  a  view  to 
turning  it  over  to  the  storekeepers,  and  thus  getting  a 
new  lease  of  credit  for  themselves  ;  and  so  strong  and 
emphatic  is  public  sentiment  in  this  respect,  that  the 
country  merchant  who  would  defy  it,  would  be  looked 
upon  as  a  public  enemy,  and  his  custom  would  fall  off  in 
consequence. 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL   LA  IV.         89 

The  improvidence,  as  well  as  the  thievishness  of  the 
negro  is  shown  in  his  disposition  to  steal  the  rails  of  the 
fences  that  are  situated  conveniently  to  his  cabin,  the 
seasoned  wood,  when  ignited,  affording  him  that  warmth 
and  brilliant  light  in  which  he  likes  to  bask.  He  will 
not  scruple  to  cut  up  the  most  valuable  plank  for  this 
purpose,  or  even  to  tear  the  dry  weather-boarding  from 
his  own  dwelling,  the  mere  waste  which  he  thus  creates 
being  passed  over  without  a  thought. 

A  few  of  the  planters,  considering  it  impossible  to  re 
strain  the  thievishness  of  their  laborers,  seek  to  break  its 
force  by  entering  into  a  formal  agreement  with  them, 
that  all  shall  be  responsible  in  pecuniary  damages  for 
whatever  loss  may  result  from  the  larcenies  of  any  one  ; 
but  the  negroes  naturally  regard  this  as  a  harsh  and  ex 
acting  condition,  as  it  involves  the  innocent  with  the 
guilty.  Occasionally  a  planter  is  found  who  is  stoical 
and  philosophical  enough  to  ignore  the  thievish  acts  of 
his  employes,  the  pecuniary  damage  entailed  being 
accepted  by  him  as  an  inevitable  part  of  his  debit  ac 
count,  for  which  he  makes  the  proper  pecuniary  allow 
ance  when  he  is  reckoning  his  expenses,  his  irritation 
venting  itself  only  in  a  shrug  of  the  shoulder  or  a  mut 
tered  imprecation.  Many  of  these  petty  rogues  when 
discovered  slink  off  the  plantation,  not  because  their 
personal  relations  with  their  fellow-laborers  become 
strained  and  uncomfortable  in  consequence  of  the  ex 
posure  of  their  guilt,  but  because  they  are  ashamed  to 
confront  their  employer,  a  proof  that  they  are  conscious 
of  the  impropriety  of  their  behavior.  So  well  aware  is 
that  employer  and  his  overseer  of  this,  that  they  will 
sometimes  pretend  to  be  blind  to  a  theft  that  is  being 
perpetrated  directly  under  their  eyes,  if  the  rogue  is  a 


go      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

vigorous  and  industrious  hand.  To  accuse  him  on  the 
spot  is  to  frighten  him  into  a  hasty  departure  for  un 
known  parts  ;  to  arrest  him  would  occasion  a  degree  of 
trouble  and  annoyance  that  would  be  out  of  proportion 
to  the  character  of  the  offense  ;  and  to  dismiss  him 
would  be  to  create  the  necessity  of  hiring  another  labor 
er,  who  would  be  as  easily  seduced  when  tempted  to 
pilfer.  Moreover,  it  would  be  to  expose  the  inflammable 
property  of  the  plantation  to  the  torch  of  a  revengeful 
incendiary. 

The  public  sentiment  prevailing  among  the  blacks 
with  respect  to  the  criminal  acts  of  a  member  of  their 
own  race  is  generally  healthy,  if  the  injury  inflicted  by 
him  falls  on  one  of  themselves.  Thus  they  are,  as  a 
rule,  very  much  aroused  if  one  negro  is  slain  by  an 
other,  under  aggravated  circumstances,  and  they  con 
demn  the  murderer  with  as  much  severity  as  the  white 
people  ;  but  as  they  retain  no  mental  impressions  for  any 
length  of  time,  their  anger  and  hostility  soon  subside 
into  comparative  obliviousness  of  the  deed.  This  is 
also  true  of  their  feeling  with  respect  to  crimes  that  are 
much  less  heinous  and  atrocious.  There  is  no  public 
opinion  among  them,  however,  that  uncompromisingly 
reprobates  an  individual  of  their  own  color  who  is  guilty 
of  a  violation  of  the  law,  however  gross,  from  which 
white  people  alone  suffer.  Even  a  capital  offense  like 
murder  or  rape,  of  which  a  white  man  or  woman  has 
been  the  victim,  awakens  no  overwhelming  horror  in  their 
breasts,  by  the  mere  force  of  a  common  humanity.  The 
shock  which  information  of  such  a  crime  produces  is 
not  one  of  spontaneous  indignation  ;  and  if  such  a 
shock  is  experienced  at  all,  it  soon  declines  into  a  disin 
terested  curiosity.  So  far  from  always  wishing  to  assist 


THE  NEGRO  AND  THE   CRIMINAL  LAW.        g\ 

in  the  arrest  of  any  one  of  their  fellows,  who  has  made 
himself  liable  to  punishment  by  an  act  of  incendiarism  or 
burglary,  which  has  resulted  in  a  very  serious  pecuniary 
damage  to  a  white  proprietor,  they  often  seek  by  every 
secret  means  to  aid  him  to  escape.  Instead  of  showing 
disapproval  of  his  crime,  by  an  attitude  of  eagerness  to 
prevent  him  from  getting  away,  they  frequently  become 
active  accessories  to  it,  after  the  fact,  by  their  anxiety  to 
forward  his  deliverance  from  danger.  A  curious  free 
masonry  obtains  among  them,  under  these  circumstances, 
which  is  voluntarily  and  passionately  sustained  by  a 
whole  community  of  plantation  negroes,  uniting  them,  old 
and  young  alike,  in  a  conspiracy  to  protect  the  criminal, 
by  throwing  his  pursuers  off  the  scent.  The  great 
mass  is  never  so  plainly  observed  to  be  influenced 
by  a  common  impulse  as  in  such  a  juncture  as 
this.  No  political  felon  in  a  conquered  country,  whose 
boldness  has  endeared  him  to  the  hearts  of  his  peo 
ple,  but  exposed  him  to  imprisonment  at  the  hands  of 
the  alien  authorities,  was  ever  silently  and  surreptitiously 
befriended  with  more  ardor  than  such  a  burglar  or 
incendiary  thus  out  of  the  pale  of  the  law,  who  throws 
himself  upon  the  good  offices  of  his  race.  In  the  in 
stance  of  an  offense  like  petit  larceny,  the  negroes  occa 
sionally  show  openly  the  sympathy  that  they  feel  for  any 
one  of  their  companions  whose  guilty  part  in  it  has  been 
proven.  They  certainly  do  not  always  avoid  him  as  a 
man  who  has  sunk  to  a  low  point  of  shame  and  degrada 
tion  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  sometimes  conduct  them 
selves  towards  him  as  if  they  thought  that  he  had  been 
dealt  with  harshly,  and  was  therefore  entitled  to  their 
pity,  his  only  fault,  apparently,  being  that  he  was  so  un 
fortunate  or  so  awkward  as  to  be  discovered.  There  can 


92       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

be  no  hope  of  any  improvement  in  their  public  senti 
ment  with  respect  to  this,  their  most  common  violation  of 
the  law,  until  there  has  been  an  accumulation  of  property 
among  them.  As  they  acquire  valuable  articles  of  various 
kinds,  they  will  be  more  solicitous  that  the  rights  of  own 
ership  shall  be  strictly  respected,  and  such  a  wholesome 
opinion  as  this,  brought  into  play  among  the  members  of 
the  best  class  by  the  mere  force  of  utility  and  selfishness, 
may  permeate  in  time  to  those  of  the  worst,  and  thus  in 
fluence  the  general  body  to  look  upon  larceny  as  inex 
cusable.  As  to  the  sentiment  relative  to  such  crimes  as 
murder,  rape,  and  arson,  there  can  be  no  prospect  of  an 
advance  until  the  moral  tone  of  the  whole  race  has  been 
elevated,  if  time  shall  show  that  it  is  capable  of  being 
elevated. 


VII. 

RELIGION. 

THE  negro  is  remarkable  for  a  very  devout  spirit,  so 
far  as  this  signifies  a  passionate  religious  feeling  in  con 
tradistinction  to  sober  and  godly  conduct ;  as  an  abstract 
hope  and  a  naked  aspiration,  it  colors  his  whole  nature 
as  much  as  his  most  impetuous  appetites  do.  There  is  a 
touch  of  pathos  even  in  its  most  ordinary  disclosure, 
however  inconsistent  with  the  practice  of  his  life,  because 
it  has  all  the  simplicity  and  directness  of  sincerity.  It 
seems  to  be  common  to  individuals  of  his  race  belonging 
to  every  period  of  life.  The  child  left  alone  in  the  cabin, 
or  sent  off  to  a  distance  on  an  errand,  is  heard  singing 
hymns  with  almost  as  much  fervor  and  devotion  as  a 
recent  convert  at  a  revival ;  and  a  girl  who  has  not 
reached  the  marriageable  age  will  fall  into  as  much  ex 
travagance  during  the  progress  of  the  services  at  church 
as  the  most  vigorous  and  susceptible  of  the  elderly 
women.  In  the  hearts  of  the  young  and  old  alike,  reli 
gion  strikes  a  chord  that  responds  with  equal  promptness 
and  fulness  in  all. 

It  is  not  confined  to  sex  ;  the  man  is  as  devout  as  the 
woman,  being  as  much  open  to  religious  impressions  and 
as  much  dominated  by  his  religious  emotions,  although 
their  influence  does  not  cause  him  to  act  as  wildly  and 
hysterically  as  she  does,  for,  on  the  whole,  he  is  more 
able  to  control  himself,  and  yet  his  deportment,  when  he 

93 


94      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

is  full  of  the  transport  and  ecstasy  of  religious  happiness, 
is  much  more  apt  to  transfix  the  attention  of  the  ob 
server,  because  his  frame  is  larger  and  more  robust.  To 
see  it  shaking  with  childish  agitation  seems  to  be  so 
strangely  out  of  keeping  with  its  maturity  and  strength 
as  to  amount  almost  to  a  phenomenon. 

This  religious  feeling  of  the  negroes  is  not  restricted 
to  any  particular  time  or  special  locality.  They  carry  it 
into  every  situation  and  every  employment.  The  greater 
number  of  their  songs,  and  these  run  over  the  whole 
gamut  of  their  aspirations  and  emotions,  are  hymns  that 
embody  their  spiritual  hopes  in  monotonous  rhythm, 
rude  language,  and  disconnected  sentences.  The  liveli 
est  of  the  plantation  ditties,  even,  have  a  religious  echo. 
Those  melodies  that  roll  over  the  harvest  fields  as  the 
long  line  of  gleaners  gather  the  severed  wheat  into 
shocks,  or  that  are  borne  far  and  wide  on  the  frosty  air 
when  the  corn  is  being  shucked  by  the  light  of  the  No 
vember  moon,  have  a  subtle  tone,  even  when  the  words 
are  lewd  or  jovial,  that  is  expressive  of  that  profound 
sadness  that  trembles  in  the  refrains  of  the  hymns.  The 
plowman  as  he  urges  on  his  team  in  the  act  of  breaking 
up  the  sod,  the  carter  perched  upon  the  top  of  his  loaded 
wagon  on  the  way  to  the  granary,  the  hand  at  work 
among  the  plants  in  the  tobacco  lot,  the  scytheman  in 
the  clover,  the  herdsman  in  the  pasture,  the  woodman  in 
the  forest,  the  boatman  standing  at  the  helm  as  his  craft 
drops  down  the  stream, — wherever  and  whenever,  in  short, 
the  occupation  of  the  negro  secludes  him  either  for  a 
short  or  a  long  time,  from  the  companionship  of  his  race, 
he  will  often  relieve  his  loneliness  by  singing  with  a  devout 
and  melancholy  intonation.  And  this  is  peculiar  to  no 
hour  and  to  no  season.  As  he  goes  forth  in  all  the 


RELIGION.  95 

beauty,  freshness,  and  joy  of  a  vernal  morning,  the  same 
long-drawn  but  mournful  sounds  will  frequently  issue 
from  his  lips  that  are  heard  from  them  as  he  plods  to 
wards  his  cabin  through  the  chill  and  dreary  December 
dusk  ;  he  will  sing  the  same  sorrowful  notes  at  midday 
when  the  world  is  flooded  with  cheerful  light,  that  he 
pours  forth  upon  the  bosom  of  the  darkness  as  he  passes 
through  the  fields  and  woods  on  his  way  from  one  set 
tlement  of  his  people  to  another.  Whether,  indeed,  he 
is  returning  from  a  wedding  or  a  funeral,  a  political 
mass-meeting  or  a  revival,  his  voice  is  apt  to  break  out 
in  that  dismal  chant,  to  which  the  hymns  of  the  race 
have  been  sung  immemorially,  and  which  is  not  without 
a  touch  of  grandeur  in  its  solemnity. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  marked  peculiarities  of  the  negro 
that  although  he  is  very  cheerful  in  his  social  instincts 
and  bright  in  his  temper,  his  religious  spirit,  neverthe 
less,  is  more  lugubrious  than  that  of  the  most  austere  and 
embittered  Puritanism.  The  sunniness  of  his  general 
disposition  is  reflected  in  his  view  of  every  thing  that  in 
terests  him,  and  in  the  whole  tenor  of  his  conduct,  ex 
cept  in  his  system  of  belief  (whether  religious  or  super 
stitious)  and  manner  of  worship.  As  soon  as  his 
thoughts  revert  to  religion,  an  ominous  cloud  seems  to 
rise  and  darken  his  mind  ;  he  gropes  in  shadows  that 
are  constantly  assuming  different  shapes  to  increase  his 
disturbance.  A  heavy  burden  now  rests  upon  his  heart, 
under  all  other  circumstances  so  animated  and  so  blithe, 
which  he  cannot  ease  or  remove  ;  his  soul  is  penetrated 
with  sadness  ;  his  whole  being  seems  to  be  transfused 
into  one  overwhelming  emotion  of  sorrow.  Few  rays  of 
brightness,  indeed,  reach  him  from  that  heaven  which 
is  pictured  upon  his  imagination  with  such  minute  and 


g6      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

vivid  perfection  of  detail.  For  although  his  religion  is  a 
hope,  it  has  little  of  the  joy  of  hope  except  at  the  height 
of  a  spiritual  paroxysm  ;  in  his  ordinary  life  it  is  full  of 
an  agitating  fear,  but  this  fear  is  not  based  on  any  con 
sciousness  of  depravity  that  forces  upon  his  mind  a 
doubt  as  to  the  certainty  of  election.  "  I  am  going  to 
heaven  when  I  die,"  is  a  song  of  confidence  and  triumph 
which  has  its  echo  in  the  breasts  of  every  negro  upon 
whose  ears  its  familiar  words  of  happiness  fall.  No  indi 
vidual  is  apprehensive  of  the  contrary  in  his  own  in 
stance.  His  gaze  does  not  waver  in  the  clearness  of  its 
perception  of  the  material  aspects  of  the  hereafter,  and 
no  cloud  of  skepticism  ever  rises  in  his  soul,  and  wholly 
shuts  that  fair  vision  of  the  city  of  eternal  life  from 
sight.  It  is  merely  the  mystery  of  physical  death,  to 
him  the  most  interesting  and  fascinating  of  all  natural 
phenomena,  that  causes  him  to  pause,  and  from  that  he 
shrinks  not  so  much  with  cowardice  as  with  morbid  awe. 
It  repels  him,  and  yet  it  attracts  him.  Strongly  inclined 
as  the  members  of  his  race  are  to  confine  their  attention 
to  the  present,  and  especially  indisposed  as  they  are  to 
look  forward  to  the  future,  the  thought  of  death  is  not 
absent  for  a  great  length  of  time  from  their  mindi  They 
linger  around  a  dying  companion  far  more  curious  in 
their  observation  of  the  stages  of  dissolution  than  keenly 
aware  of  the  great  loss  that  is  so  soon  to  fall  on  them  in 
the  passing  away  of  a  friend  ;  they  fix  their  eyes  upon 
his  countenance  with  breathless  emotion,  and  sway  from 
side  to  side,  and  moan  as  he  passes  into  the  last  article^ 
Of  all  the  various  individuals  in  the  precincts  of  the 
cabin,  the  dying  person  is  perhaps  the  only  one  unmoved  ; 
now  that  the  end  of  his  life  is  close  upon  him,  the  fear 
that  he  had  felt  is  probably  dispelled,  and  he  sinks 


RELIGION.  97 

into  unconsciousness  with  pious  ejaculations  or  with 
profound  indifference  and  stolidity. 

There  is  rarely  an  element  of  sublimity,  however,  in 
the  deportment  of  the  negro  under  these  solemn  cir 
cumstances  ;  he  does  not  often  exhibit  here  a  clear  un 
derstanding  and  a  firm  spirit  that,  recognizing  the  whole 
character  of  the  situation,  with  all  in  it  that  tends  to  ex 
cite  the  greatest  alarm,  yet  rises  superior  to  it  by  the 
force  of  an  intrepidity  that  cannot  be  made  to  tremble 
or  to  falter.  The  negro  yields  to  the  inevitable,  not  with 
a  philosophy  that  leans  upon  its  own  strength  alone  for 
support,  nor  with  that  spirit  which  discovers  in  every 
juncture  the  aptness  and  justness  of  the  theory  that 
"whatever  is,  is  right,"  or  the  revelation  that  aall  things 
work  for  good,"  but  rather  with  a  resignation  that  ban 
ishes  intelligence,  and  an  apathy  that  does  not  allow  one 
ray  of  light  to  enter  the  soul,  fft  is  in  this  mood  that 
he  generally  submits  himself  to  the  certain  issue  of  the 
last  contest  with  death  ;  and  he  shows  the  same  state  of 
mind  whether  he  is  struck  down  by  a  sudden  accident 
when  in  full  health,  or  is  to  gradually  decline  to  his  last 
sigh,  under  the  insidious  attacks  of  old  age  or  disease. 
Religion  may  smooth  the  gradations  of  that  decline,  but 
only  occasionally  illuminates  the  last  scene  with  the  se 
rene  glow  of  a  steady  and  discriminating  faith. 

The  religious  emotions  that  sway  the  blacks  at  their 
funerals  and  revivals  and  in  their  churches,  are  merely  a 
physical  drunkenness  ;  a  species  of  excitement,  indeed, 
that  resembles  the  effect  of  over-indulgence  in  liquor,  the 
fumes  of  which,  rising  to  the  brain,  produce  an  exalta 
tion  of  feeling  that  is  expressed  in  vehement  movements 
of  the  body,  ecstatic  laughter,  and  boisterous  singing. 
It  is  long,  however,  before  this  agitation  exhausts  the 


98       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

physical  powers.  At  its  height,  it  seems  to  increase  the 
bodily  vigor  tenfold,  inflaming  it  with  the  passionate  en 
ergy  of  madness.  A  negress  in  a  religious  paroxysm 
acts  as  though  she  were  endowed  with  superhuman 
strength,  however  frail  or  emaciated  she  may  be.  Sev 
eral  men  are  required  to  prevent  her  from  laying  violent 
hands  on  herself,  and  in  the  struggle  that  ensues,  she  will 
toss  them  about  very  roughly. 

When  we  seek  the  cause  of  this  transport,  which  is  ex 
hibited  in  different  degrees  by  all,  we  find  it  to  be  most 
elusive.  It  is  not  grief,  since  those  who  create  the  great 
est  disturbance  at  the  open  grave  are  rarely  the  nearest 
relatives  or  the  closest  friends  of  the  deceased  ;  it  is  not 
consciousness  of  depravity,  for  this  transport  is  not  al 
ways  attended  by  a  confession  of  personal  wickedness, 
even  at  a  revival.  It  does  not  spring  from  an  acknowl 
edgment  of  the  omnipotence  of  God,  nor  from  a  recog 
nition  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  nor  even  from  a  vivid 
apprehension  of  death.  It  originates  in  none  of  these 
things  wholly,  and  yet  all,  perhaps,  enter  into  their  state 
of  mind  in  the  beginning,  whether  they  are  aware  of  it 
or  not ;  £ifter  the  emotion  has  once  gained  possession,  it 
carries  them  to  such  an  extreme  that  they  lose  all  defi 
nite  idea  of  the  character  of  their  own  feelingsj  Their 
excitement  when  it  reaches  this  point  has  sunk  into  an 
ordinary  fit  of  mania.  Whatever  its  origin,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  excitement  itself  is  opposed  to  true  religious 
feeling,  being,  in  some  measure,  only  sensual  gratifica 
tion.  Their  eager  and  susceptible  natures,  overcome  by 
a  desire  for  change  and  amusement,  have  recourse  to  this 
morbid  and  unwholesome  means  of  arousing  the  emo 
tions,  which,  however  sombre,  titillate  their  unrefined 
sensibilities  agreeably.  The  negro  has  an  incorrect  idea 


RELIGION.  99 

of  religion,  not  because  he  has  been  instructed  wrongly, 
when  he  has  been  instructed  at  all,  but  because  no  kind 
of  information  that  relates  to  his  conduct  makes  a  per 
manent  impression  on  his  mind  in  opposition  to  his  pas 
sions  and  appetites.  He  undoubtedly  grasps  what  may 
be  termed  the  picturesque  parts  of  religion,  such,  for  in 
stance,  as  the  existence,  beyond  the  grave,  of  a  material 
abode  for  those  who  shall  be  saved,  as  well  as  for  those 
who  shall  be  damned.  In  other  words,  he  comprehends 
clearly  the  hereafter  as  a  mere  prolongation  of  this  life. 
Few  races,  indeed,  even  if  we  include  those  as  ignorant 
and  uncivilized,  have  such  an  abiding  conception  of  a 
spiritual  future  as  the  African,  wherever  found  ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  none  disconnect  that  future  so  distinctly 
and  so  absolutely  from  all  that  is  done  on  earth  as  its  mem 
bers  do,  even  when  they  have  been  educated  under  influ 
ences  more  or  less  refining.  The  religion  of  the  planta 
tion  negro  is  a  code  of  belief,  and  not  a  code  of  morals, 
having  no  real  connection  with  the  practical  side  of  his 
existence,  and  slight  bearing  on  the  common  motives  of 
his  conduct.  The  sermons  delivered  in  the  churches  of  his 
race  have  little  reference  to  self-government  in  fundamen 
tal  moral  details,  both  because  the  congregations  would 
resent  any  pointed  reflection  upon  their  special  failings, 
and  because  the  average  preacher  himself  does  not  com 
prehend  that  there  is  any  close  relation  between  religion 
and  practical  morality.  Breathe  a  practical  spirit  into 
the  services,  and  these  become  dull  and  prosaic  to  their 
minds  at  once.  Within  the  precincts  of  their  sacred 
edifices  they  wish  to  hear  of  heaven  ;  they  are  impatient 
of  homilies  which,  if  obeyed,  would  cut  them  off  from 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  loose  pleasures  that  vary  their 
daily  existence.  As  they  gather  under  the  humble  roofs 


100      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

of  their  churches,  they  are  like  men  and  women  who, 
aware  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  they  will  have  to  set 
out  on  a  journey  to  a  distant  country  which  they  have 
never  visited,  but  from  which  they  will  never  return,  are 
anxious  to  be  informed  of  its  character,  but  without 
clearly  recognizing  that  there  are  any  ties  between  that 
country  and  their  own,  or  that  any  thing  that  they  now 
do  can  prevent  them  from  arriving  in  it  at  last.  So  little 
stress,  on  the  whole,  do  they  lay  upon  practical  morality, 
that  they  are  generally  indifferent  as  to  whether  the 
preachers,  elders,  and  deacons  of  the  various  congrega 
tions  to  which  they  belong  are  circumspect  in  their 
lives  or  not.  Of  all  the  representative  men  to  be  found 
among  the  negroes,  the  least  estimable,  in  some  respects, 
are  those  who  fill  these  clerical  and  official  positions  ;  the 
explanation  of  this  being  that  the  occupants  of  such 
positions  are  selected  not  because  justness  of  temper, 
purity  of  spirit,  and  propriety  of  conduct  point  them  out 
as  fitted  to  be  the  best  exemplars  of  their  people,  but 
because  they  are  men  of  more  firmness  and  decision  of 
character.  The  fact  that  they  have  these  traits,  instead 
of  always  signifying  that  they  are  more  upright  and 
honorable,  frequently  means  that  they  are  more  unscrupu 
lous,  because  less  under  the  domination  of  fear,  and 
more  dangerous,  because  more  resolute  in  enforcing 
their  will.  Unfortunately,  too  many  are  inclined  to  use 
their  influence  and  power  simply  to  carry  out  their  selfish 
purposes,  or  to  administer  to  their  physical  appetites. 
However  far  or  openly  these  may  transgress  every  law  of 
pure  conduct,  it  does  not  invariably  follow  that  a  protest 
is  raised  by  the  members  of  their  congregations  ;  no  act 
on  their  part,  however  open  to  condemnation,  leading 
inevitably  to  their  deposition  amid  a  storm  of  contempt, 


RELIGION.  10 1 

disgust,  or  indignation.  Even  detection  in  a  theft,  a 
partnership  in  a  felony,  exposure  in  a  lewd  escapade, 
public  drunkenness,  are  unhappily  too  frequently  passed 
over  as  leaving  no  ineffaceable  stain  upon  their  official 
and  personal  reputations. 

Entertaining  an  opinion  as  lenient  as  this  of  the  bad 
conduct  of  their  highest  spiritual  officers,  it  may  well  be 
supposed  that  the  members  of  the  church  are  not  as 
strict  as  they  should  be  in  judging  themselves,  when 
they  too  fall  into  gross  irregularities  of  behavior.  The 
most  pious  among  them  are  too  often  those  who  are  the 
laxest  in  their  daily  lives,  and  the  most  unrestrained  in 
their  ordinary  deportment  ;  a  strong  religious  feeling 
being  apparently  consistent  with  the  lowest  instincts  and 
the  most  unbridled  passions.  The  sublimest  faith,  be 
cause  simple  and  unquestioning,  like  the  faith  of  a  little 
child,  is  found  in  them,  associated  with  a  profound 
insensibility  to  every  principle  upon  which  religion  rests, 
and  without  the  observance  of  which  it  is  the  hollowest 
of  mockeries  ;  indeed  the  religious,  as  distinguished 
from  the  moral,  sense  is  frequently  seen  to  be  as  fully 
developed  in  a  negro  imprisoned  for  murder,  or  arson, 
or  burglary,  or  even  rape,  as  in  those  who  are  compara 
tively  blameless.  A  colored  felon  is  very  apt  when 
standing  on  the  scaffold  to  display  the  intensity  and 
vividness  of  the  religious  sentiment  in  his  heart,  although 
the  dark  stains  of  a  demoniacal  crime  may  yet  linger 
upon  his  hands.  Not  a  doubt  crosses  his  mind  as  to  his 
spiritual  destination.  Heaven,  with  all  its  transcendent 
pleasures  and  glories,  opens  on  his  sight  even  before  he 
closes  his  eyes  to  the  spectacle  of  that  earth  which  would 
be  but  a  scene  of  godless  anarchy  if  abandoned  to  men 
as  unrestrained  and  wicked  as  himself.  And  this  spirit  is 


102      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

not  begotten  by  the  enthusiasm  of  a  sudden  repentance 
as  vehement  as  his  position  is  fatal  ;  it  has  always 
lurked  in  the  central  recesses  of  his  being,  and  has,  no 
doubt,  been  exhibited  with  equal  violence  at  many 
previous  times,  when  his  sensibilities  were  deeply  touched 
by  wild  appeals  to  his  religious  nature. 

We  find  the  same  inconsistent  spirit  running  through 
the  whole  mass  of  the  race  ;  a  skeptic  or  scoffer  among 
its  members  would  be  branded  as  an  outlaw,  who  would 
be  summarily  dealt  with  if  he  ventured  to  obtrude  his 
opinions  on  a  prominent  occasion.  Not  even  a  difference 
of  political  sentiment  would  separate  a  negro  so  quickly 
and  so  far  from  his  friends  and  companions  as  infidelity. 
Such  a  state  of  mind,  however,  is  wholly  foreign  to  the 
intellectual  leaning  of  his  people,  for  their  turn  of 
thought  is  never  speculative. 

That  the  negro  can  be  so  full  of  religious  faith  at  the 
very  time  that  his  conduct  is  so  palpably  opposed  to  true 
piety,  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  he  has  that  extreme 
inability  to  appreciate  and  measure  the  practical  rela 
tions  of  things  that  we  observe  in  children,  as  well  as 
their  lack  of  logical  power.  And  then,  too,  he  acts  pre 
cisely  as  his  religion  impels  him,  without  stopping  a 
moment  to  inquire  why  he  does  so.  It  has  all  the  force 
of  an  appetite  which  he  cannot  control  whether  he  de 
sires  to  do  so  or  not.  He  follows  unquestionably  wher 
ever  it  leads,  and  it  never  relaxes  its  hold  upon  him, 
being  associated  with  a  free  indulgence  of  instincts  that 
are  apparently  in  conflict  with  it,  because  it  is  as 
much  an  instinct  as  these  are.  He  does  not  recognize 
that  there  is  any  relation  between  his  various  physical 
appetites  ;  and  his  religious  instinct  is  as  disconnected 
from  his  physical  appetites  as  one  of  the  latter  is  from 


RELIGION.  IO3 

the  rest.  It  goes  hand  in  hand  with  them,  but  rarely 
runs  counter  to  them  ;  there  being  no  more  incongruity 
to  his  mind  between  his  religious  impulse  and  his  lewd- 
ness,  for  instance,  than  between  his  lewdness  and  his 
hunger  and  thirst.  Each  one  colors  and  shapes  his  con 
duct  according  to  circumstances.  The  result  is,  that  his 
conversion,  as  a  rule,  does  not  mean  regeneration  in  the 
Christian  sense — that  is,  such  an  alteration  of  character 
as  will  lead  him  at  least  to  try  to  repress  his  bad  inclina 
tions  and  passions.  That  is  not  the  condition  usually 
superinduced  in  him  ;  it  is  only  a  burst  of  enthusiasm, 
a  temporary  state  of  intellectual  drunkenness  that  has 
no  practical  bearing  on  the  general  spirit  of  his  life. 
This  fact  in  the  history  of  one  person  is  illustrated  on  a 
still  greater  scale  in  the  history  of  a  community,  which 
is  a  mere  aggregation  of  similar  individuals.  A  wave  of 
emotional  excitement  sweeps  over  a  whole  neighborhood, 
arousing  the  negroes  to  frenzy  ;  there  is  a  universal 
wail  of  unhappiness,  followed  by  a  shout,  as  a  trium 
phant  expression  of  eternal  security  through  faith,  and 
yet  no  special  change  is  observed  in  the  course  of  the 
community  afterwards,  not  even  in  a  short  period  imme 
diately  succeeding  these  revivals. 

The  divorce  between  religion  and  morality  in  the  life 
of  the  negro  fills  the  observer  at  first  with  astonishment, 
for  it  seems  impossible  that  he  can  be  both  devout  and 
depraved  at  the  same  moment,  but  if  he  is  suspected  in 
the  beginning,  of  hypocrisy,  that  suspicion  is  dispelled 
after  a  brief  association  with  him.  It  is  true  that  he  is 
not  lacking  in  capacity  for  dissimulation,  as  is  frequently 
disclosed  in  his  personal  relations  with  the  whites  ;  nev 
ertheless,  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could  play  a  hypo 
critical  part  for  any  length  of  time,  for  the  reason  that  it 


104      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

is  not  practicable  for  him  to  carry  out,  with  unswerving 
steadiness  of  will,  any  purpose  that  requires  an  unremit 
ting  watch  over  his  natural  impulses  and  a  resolute  re 
pression  of  them  when  they  rise.  He  finds  it  hard,  too, 
to  remain  long  enough  in  one  state  of  mind  to  continue 
to  desire  to  realize  even  the  wishes  that  can  be  accom 
plished  at  one  stroke,  much  less  those  that  are  de 
pendent  for  success  upon  an  extended  and  intricate 
course  of  action.  For  these  reasons,  as  well  as  because 
his  temperament  is  innately  devotional,  he  cannot  be 
charged  with  religious  cant  and  pretense,  however  im 
moral  or  criminal  he  may  be. 

At  the  very  time  that  he  overlooks  the  union  of  immo 
rality  of  conduct  with  holiness  of  thought  in  himself,  it 
is-  probable  that  his  conscience  would  condemn  him 
severely,  if  he  were  to  take  part  in  any  kind  of  amuse 
ment.  Some  devout  individuals  of  his  race,  for  instance, 
regard  mere  secular  pleasures,  such  as  singing  and 
dancing,  as  far  more  serious  offenses  against  the  Chris 
tian  spirit  than  larceny  or  unchastity.  They  would  pre 
fer,  as  members  of  the  Church,  to  be  caught  in  the  act  of 
pilfering  rather  than  in  a  performance  on  the  fiddle  or  in 
a  breakdown  ;  and  would  rather  be  exposed  as  guilty  of 
adultery,  than  to  have  their  allegiance  to  mere  religious 
canons  questioned.  This  is  simply  the  outgrowth  of  the 
fact,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  that  the 
essential  and  fundamental  principles  of  religion  amount 
only,  with  the  plantation  negroes,  to  a  system  of  belief. 
As  long  as  they  shall  adhere  to  that  system  as  firmly  and 
honestly  as  they  now  do,  it  will  be  impossible  to  charge 
them  with  hypocrisy.  This  stickling  for  the  hollow 
rules  of  religion  seems  strange,  when  all  its  practical 
lessons  are  ignored  ;  but  the  mere  anxiety  which  they  dis- 


RELIGION.  105 

play,  in  sustaining  these  rules,  is  a  proof  at  once  of  their 
sincerity  and  their  obtuseness. 

Owing  to  the  passionate  and  emotional  bent  of  their 
natures,  the  negroes  have  never  been  in  sympathy  with 
the  Episcopal  church,  even  when  their  moral  and  mental 
characters  have  been  more  or  less  refined.  The  restric 
tion  of  its  services  to  a  certain  set  form,  and  its  steady 
discouragement  of  all  vehement  expression  of  the  feel 
ings,  strip  religion,  according  to  their  view,  of  every 
thing  that  makes  it  vital  and  realistic  ;  its  essence 
evaporating  because  that  spirit  which  exalts  the  wor 
shippers  with  ecstasy,  and  fills  them  with  uncontrollable 
enthusiasm,  has  no  room  for  display.  It  is  this  desire 
to  give  full  rein  to  all  the  promptings  of  their  religious 
fervor  that  causes  the  system  of  government  that  dis 
tinguishes  the  Baptist  denomination  to  be  considered 
with  so  much  favor  by  the  individuals  of  the  race  ;  and 
with  this  church,  in  consequence,  the  great  majority  are 
connected.  Its  ceremony  of  immersion  particularly  is 
full  of  meaning  to  their  minds  ;  the  vast  crowd,  swaying, 
shouting,  and  gesticulating,  the  strange  and  picturesque 
local  details  of  the  vicinity,  the  canopy  of  sky  and  cloud 
overhead,  the  late  hour,  the  emotional  rites,  all  tending 
to  impress  the  occasion  upon  which  they  are  received 
into  the  bosom  of  that  church  most  deeply  on  their 
minds.  The  moment  from  which  their  souls  are  made 
safe  from  damnation  is  thus  distinctly  marked  in  time, 
their  admission  to  the  fold  being  celebrated  with  a 
tumultuous  display,  worthy  of  such  a  supreme  event  in 
their  lives.  To  whatever  religious  denomination  the 
blacks  may  claim  to  belong,  however,  they  always  breathe 
their  peculiar  emotional  temper  into  its  sacred  observ 
ances.  Most  frequently  they  are  only  nominally  mem- 


IC>6       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

bers  of  a  church  organization,  so  inclined  are  they  to  act 
upon  their  own  devotional  impulses  in  defiance  of  definite 
customs  and  conventionalities  of  every  kind.  It  is  largely 
owing  to  this  dislike  of  restraint  that  they  show  such  an 
unmistakable  desire  and  determination  to  worship  alone 
to  themselves.  In  all  of  the  churches  of  the  white  peo 
ple  before  the  late  war  there  were  galleries  set  apart 
exclusively  for  such  of  the  slaves  as  wished  to  attend  the 
services,  and  these  galleries  used  to  be  well  filled  every 
Sunday,  but  that  is  not  the  case  now.  A  stranger  enter 
ing  one  of  these  churches  as  they  are  to-day  perceives  at 
once  that  the  room  allowed  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  worshippers  is  too  great  for  the  number  of  people 
present.  The  explanation  of  this  is  that  the  section  of 
the  floor  which  is  reserved  for  the  negroes  is  always 
vacant.  Why  do  they  stay  away  ?  It  is  not  on  account 
of  the  attitude  of  the  white  people  toward  them,  for  both 
clergymen  and  congregations  would  be  pleased  for  them 
to  come,  and  would  put  themselves  to  much  trouble  to 
induce  them  to  do  so,  if  any  step  that  could  be  taken 
with  that  view  would  avail.  The  reason  is  to  be  found 
elsewhere.  In  the  first  place,  the  blacks  absent  them 
selves  because  their  confinement  to  special  benches  re 
minds  them  of  their  social  inferiority  and  subordination. 
It  recalls  too  the  days  of  slavery,  and  they  are  impatient 
of  every  thing  that  does  so.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
average  white  clergyman  speaks  above  the  level  of  their 
intelligence,  or  deals  with  the  sacred  themes  in  a  way 
not  congenial  to  their  temperaments.  Above  all,  and 
this  is  explanation  enough  in  itself,  they  do  not  feel 
at  ease  there,  and  cannot  conduct  themselves  as  their 
emotions  impel  them.  These  churches  are  a  part  of  the 
social  organization  of  the  whites,  and  are  almost  as 


RELIGlOti.  107 

closely  associated  with  their  lives  as  their  nurseries, 
chambers,  and  drawing-rooms.  The  negroes  know  that 
they  are  as  much  shut  out  of  this  social  circle  as  if  they 
were  still  slaves,  and  they  shrink  away  from  it  instinct 
ively  in  consequence.  In  their  own  churches  they  can 
act  as  their  feelings  prompt  them  to  act,  conscious  all 
the  while  that  they  are  not  scrutinized  by  critical  or  laugh 
ing  eyes.  There  they  can  allow  both  bodies  and  souls  to 
run  riot.  Does  the  power  of  the  religious  spirit  cause 
them  to  spring  involuntarily  to  their  feet  and  shout  in  an 
ecstasy  ?  Then,  they  are  sure  of  the  pity,  sympathy, 
and  admiration  of  all  in  earshot.  The  old  hymns  that 
console  or  elate  them  so  much  are  sung  by  the  white 
people  to  various  and  difficult  tunes.  The  negroes,  on 
the  other  hand,  roll  these  hymns  from  their  breasts  to 
one  simple  metre  which  is  full  of  the  emphatic  fervor  of 
their  ardent  emotions.  It  is  this  portion  of  the  services 
that  touches  their  sensibilities  most  keenly.  They  look 
upon  themselves  as  having  so  little  part  in  the  churches 
of  their  employers,  and  they  feel  so  little  interest  in  the 
services  there,  that  even  when  it  is  their  duty  to  drive  the 
families  of  the  planters  thither  on  Sunday,  they  rarely 
enter,  preferring  to  remain  outside  instead,  and  gossip 
until  the  congregations  reappear.  The  overtures  which 
the  white  clergymen  make  to  the  blacks  are  met  coldly 
and  reluctantly,  if  these  overtures  are  with  the  view  to 
the  formation  of  any  continuous  and  permanent  religious 
association  with  them.1  They  are  not  unwilling,  how 
ever,  to  hear  sermons  from  such  clergymen  occasionally, 
if  the  latter  are  careful  to  preach  at  an  hour  when  they 
will  not  interfere  with  the  services  of  the  colored  pastors, 
who  are  very  jealous  of  their  prerogative.  Perfect  de- 
1  That  is,  as  their  pastors. 


108       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

corum  distinguishes  an  audience  gathered  together  under 
these  circumstances.  Only  a  few  hours  before,  it  is 
probable  that  its  members  had  been  in  a  state  of  tumul 
tuous  religious  excitement,  but  now  they  listen  quietly 
and  attentively.  Each  man  and  woman  feel  that  they 
must  bear  themselves  in  the  presence  of  a  white  person 
of  consideration  with  proper  reserve,  if  they  wish  to 
retain  his  respect,  and  they  are  as  anxious  to  do  so  as  so 
many  children  put  upon  their  good  behavior  by  the 
promise  of  a  reward.  The  clergyman,  however,  avoids 
playing  too  long  upon  their  emotions,  and  he  knows  at 
once  that  he  is  doing  so  if  the  old  men  in  the  congrega 
tion  begin  faintly  to  groan  and  the  women  to  sway  from 
side  to  side  on  the  benches. 

In  consequence  of  the  disposition  of  the  negroes  to 
withdraw  to  themselves  in  their  religious  worship,  we 
find  that  their  church  organizations  reflect  their  social  as 
well  as  their  religious  spirit.  With  them,  indeed,  the 
church  is  as  much  a  social  as  a  religious  institution.  It 
is  especially  remarkable  as  being  the  only  form  of 
organization  that  the  blacks  have  been  able  to  sustain 
with  a  steady  and  unchanging  concurrence  of  mind,  for 
it  is  in  the  one  matter  of  co-operation  that  they  have 
always  shown  in  their  general  affairs  the  greatest  element 
of  weakness,  being  unable,  usually,  to  work  soberly  and 
persistently  together  for  a  common  object.  This  same 
weakness  would,  no  doubt,  be  displayed  in  the  church 
organization  if  its  purposes  were  wholly  practical  but 
these  purposes  are  mixed,  such  as  are  practical  being 
subordinate  to  pleasure  and  religion.  As  a  mere  institu 
tion,  however,  it  undoubtedly  gives  head  to  the  various 
inclinations  of  the  negroes,  infusing  all  the  vigor  of  a  co 
operative  body,  large  in  numbers  and  united  by  the 


RELIGION.  109 

closest  sympathies,  into  their  ordinary  social  and  political 
tendencies. 

The  church,  as  an  organization,  is  growing  in  strength 
and  popularity  with  the  members  of  the  race.  One  evi 
dence  of  this  is  the  fact  that  even  the  congregations  in 
the  most  remote  and  barren  regions  are  being  more  and 
more  supplied  with  preachers  who  are  supported  wholly 
by  the  contributions  of  their  charges,  thus  relieving  them 
of  the  necessity  of  manual  labor.  The  educated  minister 
is  thrusting  the  uneducated  from  his  pulpit,  but  his  in 
fluence,  on  the  whole,  has  not  been  more  beneficial  than 
that  of  the  old-fashioned  plantation  preacher,  who,  how 
ever  far  he  may  depart  from  the  path  of  a  pure  and  up 
right  life,  is,  at  least,  a  firm  and  fervent  believer  in  the 
truth  of  religion.  Nor  is  he  contemptible  as  a  mere 
orator.  Gifted  with  remarkable  fluency,  he  can  often 
run  with  true  oratorical  skill  over  the  whole  gamut  of 
emotions.  He  speaks  very  frequently  with  such  genuine 
power  that  the  ungrammatical  language  in  which  his 
sermons  are  couched  is  forgotten.  There  is  at  times, 
too,  a  striking  aptness  and  picturesqueness  of  illustra 
tion  in  his  speech,  a  use  of  racy  similes  and  metaphors 
drawn  from  his  observation  of  the  fields  and  forests,  and 
its  manifold  and  ever  changing  forms  of  life,  or  from  his 
personal  experience  in  those  lowly  walks  of  existence  in 
which  all  of  his  days  have  run. 

The  educated  preacher,  on  the  other  hand,  is  fre 
quently  so  ambitious  and  artificial  in  his  style  that  he  is 
unintelligible  both  to  himself  and  his  audience.  Having 
a  smattering  of  theology,  he  -is  disposed  to  be  learned, 
dogmatic,  and  pompous  in  his  discourse,  confining  him 
self  to  knotty  and  abstruse  doctrines  that  do  not  relate 
to  practical  life  ;  and  in  consequence  he  communicates  to 


IIO      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

the  members  of  his  congregation  little  of  that  enthusiasm 
which,  under  the  old  ministrations,  would  spread  like  a 
rapid  contagion  among  them,  throwing  them  into  a  state 
of  uncontrollable  excitement  on  the  smallest  provocation. 
The  influence  of  the  average  preacher  of  the  new  school 
is  not  as  useful  in  personal  intercourse  as  it  might  be. 
The  little  knowledge  that  he  has  acquired  has  probably 
puffed  him  up  very  much  in  his  bearing  without 
strengthening  his  principles,  and  the  inflation  of  his 
egotism  has  perhaps  only  deepened  his  selfishness.  The 
cultivation  of  his  mind,  in  making  him  more  keen-witted, 
has  not  necessarily  made  him  more  scrupulous  and  con 
scientious.  His  power  over  the  individuals  of  his  race 
is  supreme,  and  it  is  too  often  exercised  to  his  own  per 
sonal  advantage,  both  in  a  social  and  political  way.  In 
him,  too,  we  discover  the  first  trace  of  religious  hypocrisy 
in  the  negro. 

With  such  men  as  these  at  the  head  of  their  churches, 
men  remarkable,  at  the  best,  for  comparative  ignorance 
and,  at  the  worst,  for  the  grossest  corruption  of  spirit, 
it  is  impossible  for  the  religious  associations  of  the 
blacks,  as  constituted  at  present,  to  subserve  with  much 
success  the  purpose  of  improving  their  moral  tendencies. 
The  character  of  such  men  is  just  now  but  a  reflection  of 
the  character  of  the  associations  themselves.  Even  the 
good  that  the  latter  accomplish  is  so  largely  mixed  with 
evil  that  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  negroes  of  most 
communities  would  be  in  a  better  condition  if  they  had 
no  separate  churches  of  their  own  at  all. 


VIII. 

SUPERSTITION. 

THERE  is  no  peculiarity  of  the  negro  that  is  more 
marked  in  its  influence  on  his  conduct  than  his  supersti- 
tiousness,  and  in  the  individual  of  no  other  race  is  the 
same  trait  more  fully  developed.  It  has  its  origin  in  the 
obtuseness  and  narrowness  of  his  intellect  and  the  alert 
ness  and  gloominess  .of  his  imagination.  Like  a  child, 
he  dwells  as  much  in  a  visionary  world  as  in  the  material 
world  ;  he  is  constantly  passing  in  thought  the  debatable 
ground  that  divides  the  natural  from  the  supernatural, 
and  he  is  unconscious  of  the  stage  of  transition,  for  his 
spirit  moves  with  as  much  freedom  in  the  domain  of  the 
one  as  in  that  of  the  other.  His  perceptions  seem  to  be 
as  much  unobstructed  there  as  here,  and  his  foothold  as 
sure  and  unhesitating.  There  is,  however,  no  touch  of 
poetry,  or  element  of  tenderness  or  benignity  in  the  gen 
eral  character  of  this  superstitiousness  ;  the  forces  which 
it  calls  into  play  are  callous  and  sinister  ;  all  cheerful 
ness  is  banished  from  the  atmosphere  in  which  it  flour 
ishes,  and  only  malice,  hatred,  mischief,  and  calamity 
remain.  As  in  the  instance  of  his  religion,  the  native 
sunniness  of  his  disposition  does  not  irradiate  this  atmos 
phere  with  its  own  light  ;  his  mind,  as  soon  as  it  enters 
it,  becomes  at  once  dejected,  or  is  darkened  by  the 
gravest  apprehensions.  The  vivid  gayety  of  his  ordinary 
temper  causes  the  reaction  from  joy  to  terror  to  be  the 


112       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

more  extreme,  his  susceptibility  to  the  one  emotion  being 
attended  by  an  equal  susceptibility  to  the  other,  although 
at  the  opposite  pole.  Every  aspect  of  that  world,  which 
is  material  only  in  his  morbid  fancy,  is  calculated  to  awe, 
frighten,  and  repel  him  ;  and,  in  consequence,  he  lives  at 
a  greater  tension  in  this  insubstantial  sphere  of  existence 
than  he  does  in  the  substantial  even  ;  indeed,  the  con 
ception  which  he  has  of  this  unreal  world  is  much  more 
distinct  than  that  which  he  has  of  the  real,  because  it 
only  appeals  to  him  through  emotions  which  make  the 
deepest  impression  on  his  mind.  His  superstition,  in 
fact,  is  so  dense  that  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that 
he  does  not  distinguish  this  incorporeal  sphere  at  all 
from  that  in  which  he  breathes  and  moves.  His  thoughts 
revert  to  it  so  frequently  that  it  is  surprising  that  it  does 
not  destroy  his  happiness  completely  ;  and  it  would  cer 
tainly  do  so  but  for  the  characteristic  inability  of  the 
negro  to  retain  any  one  notion  or  feeling  continuously 
enough  to  influence  his  conduct  permanently. 

Spirits  enter  more  largely  into  the  superstition  of  the 
negro  than  any  other  figment  of  the  imagination  ;  he  has 
comparatively  few  of  those  isolated  fancies  that  consti 
tute  a  disconnected  system  of  belief  with  many  less 
credulous  peoples.  His  superstition,  on  the  contrary, 
has  an  overshadowing  personal  element  in  it,  and  of  an 
evil  bent" ;  perhaps  because  on  his  native  continent  it  was 
man  whom  he  had  most  reason  to  fear,  and  therefore  it 
was  man  of  whom  he  stood  in  most  dread.  He  came 
finally  to  regard  the  spirit  dislodged  from  the  body  with 
the  same  emotions.  His  conviction  as  to  the  existence 
of  this  spirit  after  death  cannot  be  shaken,  and  to  his 
disordered  view  it  is  constantly  assuming  a  visible  shape, 
but  rarely,  if  ever,  that  form  of  flesh  and  blood  which  it 


SUPERS TITION.  1 1 3 

once  inhabited.  This  shape  is  shadowy  and  grisly,  and 
always  aggressive.  The  ghosts  of  his  nearest  and  most 
amiable  friends  seem  to  raise  as  much  alarm  in  his  breast 
as  the  spectres  of  his  most  violent  and  resolute  enemies. 
When  animals  reappear  in  these  visions,  they  are  pre 
sented,  as  a  rule,  as  they  were  in  life,  for  he  has  not  the 
same  vivid  conception  of  the  spirit  of  a  horse,  dog,  or  ox 
that  he  has  of  the  spirit  of  one  of  his  own  species.  It  is 
remarkable  that,  although  he  believes  so  firmly  in  ghosts, 
and  associates  them  with  the  most  prominent  spots  in  his 
vicinity,  yet  this  does  not  always  prevent  him  from  wan 
dering  even  at  the  darkest  hour,  amid  scenes  that  he  has 
often  asserted  to  be  haunted.  It  is  probable  that  he  will 
avoid  a  graveyard  after  sunset,  but  he  will,  perhaps,  do 
so  for  the  reason  that  might  influence  a  white  man, 
namely,  the  thoughts  which  it  suggests  are  dismal  or  un 
canny  ;  and  yet  he  will  often  enter  a  deep  wood  or  cross 
a  lonely  field  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  while  hardly  a 
ray  from  the  dim  stars  in  a  moonless  sky  penetrates  an 
occasional  opening  in  the  black  clouds  overhead.  He 
will  frequently  walk  many  miles  after  nightfall  to  idle 
away  a  few  hours  at  the  plantation  store  ;  and  after  re 
lating  many  tales  of  his  own  encounters  with  spectres  at 
various  periods  in  his  life,  will  return  to  his  distant  cabin 
along  a  path  that  runs  over  hill  and  down  valley,  with  a 
dense  growth  of  trees  and  shrubs  on  either  side,  in  appar 
ent  indifference  to  the  dangers  that  are  supposed  to  beset 
his  way.  And  if  he  has  an  amorous  tryst  to  keep  with 
some  local  Venus,  he  will  defy  a  legion  of  the  ghosts  of 
his  deceased  acquaintances  in  order  to  be  punctual  to 
the  hour  appointed. 

It  is  the  spirit  that  he  cannot  see  rather  than  the  one 
that  he  can  see  that  impresses  itself  most  deeply  on  his 


114       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAtf. 

imagination.  He  can  roughly  measure  the  ability  of 
ghost  to  harm  him,  as  well  as  anticipate  with  more  or 
less  exactness  the  manner  in  which  it  will  strike,  and  the 
moment  at  which  it  will,  but  both  the  presence  and  the 
intentions  of  a  spirit  that  never  makes  itself  visible  are 
all  the  more  terrible  because  not  precisely  known  or 
knowable.  As  a  modification  of  this,  the  negro  dreads 
the  malevolence  of  persons  whom  he  believes  to  be 
endowed  with  supernatural  power,  and  who,  therefore, 
stand  upon  the  footing  of  a  spirit,  whether  visible  or 
invisible.  Here,  again,  the  personal  element  in  his 
superstition  is  apparent.  That  original  fear  which  he 
had  of  man,  as  having  the  physical  strength  as  well  as 
the  desire  to  inflict  injury,  which  also  entered  into  his 
view  of  the  spirit  after  death,  he  still  entertains  of  cer 
tain  men  as  gifted  not  with  physical  vigor,  for  that  is 
now  unimportant,  but  with  a  subtle  and  occult  skill  that 
has  no  reflection  in  nature.  In  other  words,  he  is  con 
vinced  that  there  are  individuals  who  can  carry  out  by 
supernatural  means  various  schemes  of  mischief  or  ruin 
without  the  possibility  of  being  thwarted.  He  has  an 
unquestioning  faith  in  the  art  of  witchcraft,  a  form  of 
superstition  that  prevails  universally  among  his  fellows, 
overshadowing  every  other,  and  differing  very  little  in 
character  and  exhibition  from  the  variety  of  superstition 
that  flourishes  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa  to-day  among 
the  descendants  of  ancestors  who  are  common  to  the 
American  negro  also.  His  retention  of  this  superstition 
after  the  lapse  of  such  a  great  length  of  time,  passed  in 
the  midst  of  different  local  surroundings  and  amid  the 
most  modifying  influences,  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs 
of  the  inherent  tenacity  of  the  fundamental  qualities  of 
his  race.  Plantation  negroes,  in  a  convenient  distance 


SUPERSTITION.  1 1 5 

of  churches,  schools,  and  railroads,  are  found  to  have  as 
firm  a  belief  in  witchcraft  as  those  savages  of  the  African 
bush  who  file  their  teeth,  perforate  the  cartilage  of  their 
noses,  and  expose  their  bodies  without  a  strip  of  clothing. 
They  do  not  offer  up  bloody  sacrifices  as  they  do  in 
Hayti  ;  they  have  not  adopted  any  ceremonial  like  that 
of  the  Voodoo,  but  the  spirit  of  their  superstition  is 
nevertheless  the  same  as  that  of  the  West  Indian  and 
Congo  blacks,  and  from  its  vigor  and  intensity  it  is  not 
improbable  that  if  they  were  abandoned  to  themselves  it 
would  in  time  be  displayed  in  rites  similar  to  those  ob 
served  in  Guinea  and  the  Haytian  Republic.  There  are 
communities  of  negroes  in  the  tobacco  belt  of  Virginia 
to-day  that  so  far  resemble  an  African  tribe  as  to  have  a 
professional  trick  doctor,  a  man  whose  only  employment, 
and  therefore  whose  only  means  of  earning  his  living,  lies 
in  the  practice  of  the  art  of  witchcraft,  but  it  is  probable 
that  he  is  an  unconscious  empiric  as  a  rule.1  Like  all 
the  influential  men  of  his  race,  he  is  apt  to  be  an  indi 
vidual  of  unusual  force  of  will  and  decision  of  purpose, 
and  enjoying  as  such  a  certain  power  irrespective  of  his 
representative  character  ;  clothed  with  the  additional 
dignity  of  such  a  character,  his  authority  meets  with  no 
opposition  except  from  those  who  are  playing  the  same 
part. 

A  trick  doctor  is  invested  with  even  more  importance 
than  a  preacher,  since  he  is  regarded  with  the  respect 
that  fear  excites,  and  not  unnaturally,  for  while  he  is  as 
impartial  as  an  ordinary  physician,  his  art  is  often  em 
ployed  to  inflict  injury.  This  imparts  a  terrific  aspect 

1  The  trick  doctor  does  not  generally  remain  long  in  any  one 
community,  but  passes  from  neighborhood  to  neighborhood  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  profession. 


Il6      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

to  his  character,  a  fact  of  which  he  is  keenly  aware,  for 
he  is  observed  to  be  eager  to  turn  the  position  which  he 
occupies  to  his  own  advantage  and  profit.  It  is  doubtful, 
indeed,  whether  a  negro  could  follow  a  more  lucrative 
pursuit.  The  members  of  his  race,  being  very  extrava 
gant,  are  ready  to  lavish  all  that  they  have  to  attain  an 
end,  especially  if  it  relates  to  the  gratification  of  their 
evil  passions.  It  is  frequently  in  connection  with  these 
that  they  seek  the  aid  of  such  a  pretender  ;  and  he  does 
not  respond  to  their  requests  unless  he  is  remunerated 
for  his  services.  The  profession  is  not  broken  down  by 
competition,  because  it  is  rare  that  a  negro  has  the  bold 
ness  to  adopt  it,  so  much  in  awe  of  witchcraft  do  the 
blacks  stand,  and  so  anxiously  do  they  shrink  from  med 
dling  with  what  is  so  occult  and  dangerous.  The  daily 
conduct  of  a  trick  doctor,  even  when  not  engaged  in  the 
work  of  his  profession,  is  more  or  less  secretive  and  re 
tiring  ;  he  does  not  associate  as  unreservedly  with  his 
fellows  as  he  would  do  if  he  made  no  claim  to  such  mys 
terious  skill ;  on  the  contrary,  he  is  inclined  to  withdraw 
from  the  crowd,  and  in  doing  so,  to  surround  himself 
with  every  thing  that  is  likely  to  impress  the  imagination 
of  his  dupes.  His  intercourse  with  mere  individuals  is 
constant,  but  it  is  almost  wholly  in  a  professional  way. 
The  fact  that  he  is  indisposed  to  enter  into  that  free 
intercourse  which  prevails  among  the  individuals  of  his 
race  is  due  not  only  to  his  wish  to  sustain  his  prestige, 
but  very  probably  also  to  his  consciousness  that  the  part 
he  is  playing  is  one  of  such  dignity  that  he  should  be 
careful  not  to  lower  it  by  too  much  familiarity. 

The  trick  doctor  is  simply  a  man  who  employs  the  arts 
of  the  Obeah  practitioners  together  with  the  arts  of  the 
Myal.  In  the  West  Indies,  as  well  as  in  Africa,  these 


SUPERSTITION.  1 1/ 

two  sects  are  broadly  distinguished  from  each  other,  one 
aim  of  the  Myal  being  to  combat  the  designs  of  the  fol 
lowers  of  Obeah,  whose  usual  purpose  is  to  inflict  and 
revenge  injuries.  The  priests  of  Myalism  also  hold  them 
selves  out  as  medicine  men.  A  plantation  trick  doctor 
pretends  to  these  various  powers,  and  in  his  ordinary 
practice,  acts  as  if  he  possessed  them  all.  Thus,  for 
instance,  he  is  sought  by  negroes  who  wish  a  spell  to  be 
cast  upon  those  who  have  aroused  their  vindictive  feel 
ings  ;  and  he  complies  with  the  request  by  transferring 
an  article  of  a  trivial  nature  either  inside  or  to  the  im 
mediate  vicinity  of  the  cabins  of  the  victims,  who  recog 
nize  the  medium  of  the  art  at  once,  from  their  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  sort  of  material  that  is  always  used. 

Again,  when  a  negro  is  convinced  that  he  has  been 
tricked,  but  not  by  a  plantation  doctor,  his  impulse  is 
to  obtain  the  assistance  of  the  latter  if  at  hand,  and  his 
fear  is  only  removed  when  a  counteracting  influence  has 
been  brought  to  bear.  And  still  more  often  too,  when 
individuals  of  his  race  are  sick,  believing  that  their  ill 
ness  is  due  to  a  similar  cause,  although  that  illness  is 
exhibited  in  a  perfectly  natural  way,  and  its  origin  is 
obvious  and  palpable,  they  will  call  in  a  trick  doctor,  in 
preference  to  the  regular  practitioner  of  the  neighbor 
hood,  and  in  consequence,  they  often  die  under  his  care, 
as  no  proper  means  are  adopted  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  disease.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  cases  of  sick 
ness  among  them,  that  are  more  readily  treated  by  a 
trick  doctor  than  by  a  licensed  physician,  for  what  is 
needed  is  a  soothing  stimulant  for  the  mind  and  not  the 
administration  of  a  dose  to  the  body.  The  cures  that 
he  will  effect  in  instances  of  this  kind  seem  almost 
miraculous,  the  process  of  recuperation  being  so  rapid 


Il8       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

as  to  be  inexplicable  but  for  the  fact  that  the  disease  is 
not  physical  but  mental.  The  influence  of  the  trick 
doctor  is  sustained  without  any  loss  of  prestige,  owing 
to  the  susceptibility  of  the  mind  of  the  individual  negro 
to  these  strange  impressions  as  well  as  its  responsiveness 
to  the  remedy.  Let  the  latter  be  convinced  that  he  is 
bewitched,  and  he  will  sink  at  once  into  despondency  ; 
his  figure  droops,  his  face  becomes  clouded  and  sad, 
while  his  general  health  declines  ;  from  the  condition  of 
a  vigorous  man,  animated  by  the  liveliest  and  most 
buoyant  spirits,  he  passes  into  an  unwholesome  melan 
choly,  which,  preying  upon  his  vitality  soon  reduces  him 
to  a  state  of  prostration.  Occasionally,  however,  this 
despair  inflames  rather  than  saps  his  physical  energies  ; 
he  is  like  one  attacked  by  madness,  acting  as  wildly  as  if 
he  had  not  only  been  deprived  of  his  wits  but  was  pos 
sessed  of  a  devil.  He  falls  into  paroxysms  of  anger  al 
ternating  with  fits  of  fear  ;  even  in  intervals  of  compara 
tive  peace  of  mind,  he  cannot  remain  quiet  owing  to  the 
disturbing  character  of  his  thoughts. 

The  phenomenon  of  his  restoration  to  health  is  almost 
as  remarkable.  His  first  anticipation  that  he  can  be 
cured,  causes  a  sudden  revulsion  of  joy  as  soon  as  it  is 
realized,  and  as  the  stages  of  recuperation  advance  to 
wards  a  complete  recovery,  confidence  takes  the  place 
of  doubt  and  anxiety  ;  the  expression  of  his  countenance 
changes  from  sorrow  to  happiness  ;  his  form  becomes 
erect  once  more  ;  his  old  manner  is  resumed  ;  he  min 
gles  freely  and  cordially  with  his  friends  and  acquain 
tances  ;  and  the  whole  of  the  severe  episode  through 
which  he  has  recently  passed,  is  apparently  forgotten. 

A  neighborhood  in  which  a  trick  doctor  may  happen 
to  be,  is  sometimes  thrown  into  a  state  of  general  turmoil 


SUPERSTITION.  1 19 

by  his  presence  ;  it  then  resembles  a  community  of  per 
sonal  enemies  whose  hands  strike  at  each  other  either 
directly,  or  through  the  medium  of  his  supposed  power. 
He  acts  as  a  secret  agent  for  gratifying  all  the  animosi 
ties  that  find  lodgment  in  their  breasts,  thus  allowing 
them  to  reek  their  ill-feelings  with  absolute  immunity. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  traits  of  the  negroes 
that  they  have  no  compunction  about  inflicting  injury 
when  they  can  do  so  slyly,  and  safely  ;  the  presence  of  a 
trick  doctor  affords  them  an  ample  opportunity  for  the 
display  of  this  characteristic,  for  witchcraft  is  as  furtive 
a  means  of  doing  harm  as  poison  or  the  torch.  All  their 
evil  passions  seem  to  be  aroused  in  these  periods  of 
occasional  excitement.  There  is  a  notable  increase  of 
quarrelling  and  wrangling  among  them ;  emotions  of 
hatred  and  revenge  are  stimulated  ;  ominous  threats  and 
deep  imprecations  fill  the  air  ;  the  whole  atmosphere  is 
alive  with  anger  and  terror.  Many  individuals  of  both 
sexes  are  either  bent  upon  damaging  or  destroying,  or 
they  are  on  the  alert  to  detect  evidences  that  they 
themselves  are  falling  victims  to  those  sinister  influences 
that  they  are  ready  to  employ  against  others  without 
hesitation,  but  which  they  dread  so  much  when  directed 
against  themselves.  They  discover  signs  on  every  side 
that  portend  extreme  calamity  to  them  ;  the  smallest 
and  most  insignificant  objects  are  invested  with  a  pro 
found  meaning ;  things  weak  and  trivial  in  themselves 
are  symbols  of  a  power  as  diffusive  as  the  universe  and 
as  unscrupulous  as  hell ;  the  world  that  moves  so  orderly 
in  its  grooves  has  apparently  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
malignant  forces  ;  the  very  sky  itself  is*  darkened  with 
a  cloud  of  evil  ;  all  nature  has  succumbed  to  malicious 
spirits. 


120      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

There  have  been  occasions  when  so  much  agitation 
has  been  thus  aroused  in  large  communities  of  negroes 
in  southern  Virginia,  that  it  has  been  necessary  for  the 
owners  of  the  land  to  compel  the  trick  doctor  to  leave, 
for  the  tendency  of  this  agitation  is  to  disorder  labor,  as 
well  as  to  disorganize  the  society  of  the  race.  There  is 
no  better  proof  of  how  high  this  excitement  runs,  and 
how  supreme  its  influence  over  the  mind  and  conduct  of 
the  individual  is,  than  the  fact  that  it  is  openly  revealed 
to  the  whites.  Of  all  their  peculiarities  of  which  they 
are  aware,  the  negroes  are  most  ashamed  of  their  super 
stition,  and  yet  it  is  so  deeply  implanted  in  their  natures, 
and  it  has  been  so  much  fostered  by  their  lives  as  freed- 
men,  and  their  withdrawal  from  close  contact  with  white 
people,  that  when  it  is  inflamed  by  circumstances  they 
cannot  resist  its  promptings.  They  yield  to  these 
promptings  with  as  much  self-abandonment  as  to  their 
religious  emotions,  and  while  in  the  power  of  the  spell 
they  will  disclose  their  terror  to  white  persons,  to  whom 
in  moments  of  ordinary  calmness  they  would  be  slow  to 
acknowledge  even  that  they  believed  in  witchcraft,  or,  if 
they  did  so,  would  premise  the  confession  with  the  state 
ment  that  black  people  were  subject  to  different  natural 
laws  from  white,  and  that  they  should  not  be  judged  by 
the  same  rules.  This  superstition  is  generally  kept  pro 
foundly  secret  from  all  save  individuals  of  their  own  race. 
Having  its  origin  in  darkness  it  continues  to  lurk  in 
darkness  until  one  of  those  periods  of  agitation  occurs, 
when  every  restraint  is  thrown  off,  owing  to  the  force  of" 
the  prevailing  consternation  ;  each  negro  will  then  dis 
close  with  the  ingenuousness  of  a  passion  the  fear  and 
anxiety  that  burden  his  heart  and  mind.  There  is 
something  very  strange  and  weird  in  the  character  of 


SUPERSTITION.  121 

the  negro's  excitement  under  these  circumstances.  The 
unquestionable  strength  of  his  feeling,  the  sincerity, 
directness,  and  absoluteness  of  his  faith,  the  vehement 
and  tumultuous  emotion  that  rocks  his  breast,  the  un 
fathomable  ignorance,  the  impenetrable  darkness  that 
envelops  his  intellect,  all  serve  to  sink  what  is  merely 
ludicrous  and  laughable  in  his  condition  wholly  out  of 
sight  and  thought. 

The  negroes,  however,  do  not  believe  that  the  power 
of  casting  a  spell  is  confined  to  a  trick  doctor  ;  on  the 
contrary  they  attribute  this  power  to  many  individuals 
who  are  supposed  to  use  the  arts  of  witchcraft  not  for  the 
purpose  of  earning  a  livelihood,  but  simply  as  a  means  of 
gratifying  feelings  of  enmity.  It  is  doubtful  whether  a 
violent  contention  ever  arises  between  members  of  the 
race,  that  the  party  or  parties  on  one  side  or  the  other  are 
not  convinced  in  the  sequel  that  an  evil  charm  has  been 
laid  on  him  or  them,  either  through  the  intervention  of 
a  trick  doctor,  or  directly  by  the  malevolence  of  the 
person  or  persons  engaged  on  the  opposite  side  in  the 
wrangle.  This  is  very  notable  in  the  squabbles  of  the 
women,  who  are  peculiarly  bitter  and  rancorous  when 
aroused.  Overflowing  with  acrimony  themselves,  and 
conscious  that  they  would  not  hesitate  to  employ  any 
physical  means  of  inflicting  injury  in  their  reach,  they 
are  always  suspicious  that  their  enemies  have  turned  the 
black  art  against  them  in  the  same  spirit  that  they  them 
selves  have  sought  to  turn  that  art  against  their  enemies. 
No  sudden  death  ever  occurs  in  a  community  of  blacks 
that  is  not  ascribed  by  many,  and  in  some  instances  by 
all,  to  witchcraft  that  has  been  brought  to  bear  by  some 
secret  foe.  A  young  girl  in  sound  health  is  unaccount 
ably  attacked  by  a  violent  disease,  and  quickly  dies  ;  the 


122       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

awed  whisper  passes  around  that  she  was  tricked  by  an 
unfavored  lover.  A  man  in  his  hearty  prime  is  stricken 
down,  and  passes  swiftly  away  ;  if  he  has  recently  been 
engaged  in  a  quarrel,  it  will  be  said  under  the  breath 
that  this  was  the  work  of  his  adversary.  The  panic 
which  such  an  incident  will  often  create  among  them  is 
indescribable  ;  a  far  deeper  feeling  being  thus  called  into 
existence  than  a  suspicion  of  poisoning  would  excite 
among  the  whites  in  any  similar  instance  of  a  mysterious 
death  among  themselves.  The  art  of  witchcraft,  the 
negroes  argue,  may  be  directed  at  any  moment  against 
them,  and  from  what  quarter  it  will  strike,  in  what  man 
ner,  and  at  what  time,  they  do  not  know,  but  this  very 
uncertainty  increases  the  terrors  of  their  position  by 
veiling  its  dangers. 

It  is  strange  that  the  sensitiveness  of  the  race  to  anxi 
ety  and  alarm  on  this  score  does  not  have  the  effect  of 
discouraging  altercations  among  its  members.  The  fact 
that  it  does  not  shows  how  far  they  are  swayed  by  tran 
sient  emotions  and  passions,  which  they  never  check  at 
the  moment  because  then  oblivious  of  every  thing  beside. 
They  do  not  look  forward  to  the  possible  consequences 
of  yielding  to  such  emotions  and  passions  ;  not  seeming 
to  anticipate  at  the  instant  that,  in  arousing  anger  in  the 
breasts  of  the  persons  with  whom  they  are  contending, 
or  even  fighting,  they  may  be  laying  up  for  themselves  a 
store  of  future  unhappiness  through  the  application  to 
themselves  of  those  evil  arts  which  their  enemies  can  ex 
ercise  directly,  or  through  the  agency  of  a  trick  doctor. 
Under  certain  circumstances,  this  fear  of  being  tricked 
does  exert  a  powerful  influence  on  the  conduct,  of  many, 
whose  real  feeling  would  otherwise  lead  them  in  another 
direction  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  a  crime  com- 


SUPERS  TITION.  1 2$ 

mitted  by  one  of  the  blacks  against  the  whites.  The 
unwillingness  of  the  great  majority  of  the  negroes  who 
are  directly  cognizant  of  such  a  crime,  to  aid  zealously 
and  actively  in  the  arrest  of  the  felon,  if  left  to  their 
own  promptings,  is  due  undoubtedly  to  the  spirit  of  race, 
which  causes  their  sympathies  to  be  fully  enlisted  on  his 
side  ;  but  then  there  are  many  disposed  to  act  differently, 
who  are  prevented  from  doing  so  by  apprehension  lest 
they  may  become  the  victims  of  witchcraft  should  they 
dare  to  take  a  position  in  opposition  to  the  mass  of  their 
friends,  companions,  and  acquaintances.  Their  lips  in 
many  other  situations  are  sealed  where  otherwise  they 
would  speak  out  promptly  and  boldly,  and  their  bearing 
constrained  where  if  they  were  removed  from  such  in 
fluences  their  action  would  be  wholly  unreserved.  As 
it  is,  they  are  like  men  and  women  who  have  been  placed 
under  a  ban  of  secrecy  and  silence  by  an  authority  that 
they  can  neither  question  nor  resist. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  form  of  superstition 
among  the  blacks  that  resembles  Myalism,  except  to  the 
extent  of  that  peculiarity  which  has  been  mentioned  as 
belonging  to  it,  namely,  the  association  of  witchcraft 
with  the  healing  art.  But  Myalism,  in  its  broadest  mani 
festations,  is  never  exhibited.  Although  there  are  times 
when  a  large  circle  of  negroes  believe  that  the  spirit  of 
evil  is  abroad,  let  loose  by  the  machination  of  those  who 
are  full  of  hatred  and  vindictiveness  towards  their  fellows, 
yet  no  impulse  is  ever  shown  to  exorcise  this  spirit  by 
resorting  to  a  counteracting  power.  This  was  the 
benigner  element  of  the  West  Indian  superstition.  A 
Myalist  outbreak  meant  the  repression  of  the  malignant 
influences  of  Obeah  through  the  operation  of  a  variety 
of  witchcraft  inimical  to  it ;  the  atmosphere  was  temper- 


124       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

arily  cleared  by  the  destruction  of  all  the  work  of  the 
Obimen,  and  peace  and  good-will  substituted  for  malice 
and  confusion.  A  community  of  plantation  negroes,  on 
the  other  hand,  seem  to  be  ignorant  of  any  means,  on  a 
great  scale,  of  opposing  the  pervasive  spirit  of  malevolent 
witchcraft.  They  stand  in  terror  of  each  other,  and 
though  keenly  frightened  by  the  thought  that  they  are 
surrounded  by  evil,  yet  have  no  scheme  for  removing  it 
by  a  force  commensurate  with  that  which  created  it. 

The  faith  of  the  negroes  in  witchcraft  has  increased 
since  emancipation,  as  they  have  been  entirely  at  liberty 
to  follow  their  natural  inclinations.  Whenever  they  are 
free  to  follow  such  inclinations,  the  tendency  of  these  is 
always  to  grow  in  vigor  and  intensity.  Even  when 
slaves,  the  blacks  had  their  witch  doctors,  but  the  latter 
were  careful  to  conceal  their  true  character.  At  the 
present  day  a  trick  doctor  openly  pursues  his  profession, 
relying  upon  it  for  a  livelihood  ;  he  is  only  interfered 
with,  and  that  comparatively  rarely,  by  planters,  who, 
impatient  of  the  confusion  that  he  creates  among  the 
negroes  in  their  employment,  threaten  the  law,  or  order 
him  to  depart  from  their  estates.  The  general  upshot  of 
this  is  that  he  restricts  his  practice  to  the  hours  of  dark 
ness,  at  which  time,  if  it  is  necessary,  he  can  safely  visit 
any  plantation  in  his  vicinity.  The  most  probable  dan 
ger  now  to  be  expected  in  connection  with  a  trick  doc 
tor  is  that  he  will  use  drugs  to  consummate  his  predic 
tions  as  to  his  influence  over  a  selected  victim.  The 
poisoning  of  animals  is  growing  to  be  a  more  common 
crime  among  the  blacks  as  a  means  of  revenge  against 
such  of  their  employers  as  have  given  them  offense  ;  the 
poisoning  of  individuals,  also,  occurs  for  the  same  reason. 
To  a  certain  extent,  however,  the  faith  which  they  have 


in  witchcraft  discourages  the  commission  of  this  crime 
among  themselves,  for  they  consider  a  trick  doctor  fully 
competent  to  act  as  their  agent  in  gratifying  their  vin 
dictive  feelings. 

The  increased  importance  of  witchcraft  has  raised  the 
dignity  of  the  trick  doctor,  and  he  is  not  disposed  to  be 
over  scrupulous  either  in  impressing  his  dupes  with  his 
power  or  in  satisfying  their  demands.  Cases  of  poison 
ing  have  already  been  traced  to  this  source,  and  there  is 
ground  for  believing  that  the  future  will  annually  aug 
ment  the  number.  How  many  really  occur  now,  it  is 
difficult  to  say,  as  the  deaths  of  the  negroes,  however 
sudden  or  suspicious,  rarely  lead  to  investigation  ;  many 
die  without  the  attendance  of  a  physician,  who  might 
make  a  report,  and  thus  the  cause  of  their  decease  is 
only  a  matter  of  rumor.  An  impostor  of  this  kind  would 
not  hesitate  to  commit  any  crime,  if  it  could  be  done 
silently  and  furtively.  In  this,  he  resembles  only  too  many 
of  his  race,  who  shrink  from  inflicting  injuries  openly  and 
boldly,  but  are  not  loth  to  harm  in  an  underhand  way,  as 
they  are  less  likely  thus  to  put  their  safety  in  jeopardy.1 

1  To  show  that  the  trick  doctors  are  not  confined  to  the  remote 
rural  districts,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  number  of  Voodoo  im 
postors  practising  their  profession  among  the  negroes  of  New 
Orleans  —  the  tenth  city  in  size  in  the  Union  and  the  second  in  the 
South  —  was  found  to  be  so  great  in  the  month  of  July,  1886,  as  to 
compel  the  Board  of  Health  to  interfere  with  a  view  to  their  sup 
pression. 


IX. 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS— MORAL. 

THE  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  general  moral 
disposition  of  the  blacks  is  the  almost  phenomenal  de 
velopment  of  the  characteristics  of  the  type  as  compared 
with  the  development  of  the  characteristics  of  the  mere 
individual;  in  other  words,  as  members  of  one  of  the 
great  families  of  mankind,  they  have  the  most  pronounced 
traits  as  a  race  to  distinguish  them  from  all  other  races, 
but  few  peculiarities  of  their  own  as  men  to  distinguish 
them  sharply  from  each  other.  We  can  say  this  of  them 
with  far  more  truth  than  of  any  other  people  who  have 
been  brought  under  influences  as  varied  and  stringent 
as  those  to  which  they  have  been  subjected.  Their 
original  spirit  as  a  race  has  not  been  radically  modified 
by  transplantation  to  the  American  continent,  the  vigor 
and  tenacity  of  their  fundamental  qualities  having  only 
grown  more  clearly  perceptible  with  the  progress  of 
time,  these  fundamental  qualities  appearing  to  be  in 
capable  of  alteration,  however  favorable  circumstances 
may  be  to  it.  There  are  certain  infirmities  which 
characterize  the  race  which,  in  this  age  at  least,  are  as 
fully  shared  by  the  negro  who  has  had  every  advan 
tage  of  discipline  and  instruction  as  by  one  who  has 
received  no  such  training  at  all.  Both  are  unable  to 
resist  the  solicitations  of  their  physical  instincts,  both 
are  more  or  less  superstitious,  both  live  wholly  in  the 

126 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  I2/ 

present,  both  show  the  same  turbulent  spirit  when  their 
vanity  is  inflated,  the  same  lack  of  fortitude  in  danger, 
the  same  want  of  the  power  of  concentrating  their  facul 
ties  in  the  form  of  continuous  attention  or  resolution, 
the  same  respect  for  unscrupulous  force,  the  same  abject 
submissiveness  when  overawed,  the  same  indifference  to 
suffering  in  animals,  the  same  callousness  associated 
with  amiability,  the  same  harshness  and  tyranny  when 
in  the  possession  of  power,  the  same  insensibility  to 
whatever  is  elevated  in  life  and  beautiful  in  the  universe. 
In  short,  we  find  precisely  the  same  weaknesses  in  the 
delegate  who  sits  in  the  legislature,  the  teacher  who 
has  been  graduated  from  college,  the  preacher  who  has 
studied  the  Bible,  the  house-servant  who  passes  most 
of  his  time  in  the  society  of  respectable  white  people, 
the  land-owner  who  superintends  his  own  hands,  the 
artisan  who  works  in  his  own  shop,  the  foreman  who 
holds  the  position  of  highest  authority  in  the  fields,  the 
common  laborer  who  toils  from  morning  until  night 
with  his  hoe  or  spade,  the  inhabitant  of  the  pine 
barrens  who  goes  about  in  rags  and  can  with  diffi 
culty  keep  from  starving, — in  all  these,  the  qualities 
of  their  race  are  so  strongly  and  equally  developed, 
that  the  difference  between  the  mechanic  and  the 
teacher,  the  laborer  and  the  legislator,  is  one  of  phys 
ical  stature  or  shade  in  the  color  of  their  respective 
skins  rather  than  of  natural  temperament  ;  there  is  prac 
tically  little  if  any  difference  in  their  moral  dispositions. 
The  ditcher  only  lacks  an  equal  amount  of  knowledge 
to  be  as  good  an  instructor  as  the  teacher ;  the  plowman 
would  be  just  as  competent  a  representative  as  the  legis 
lator.  Artisan  and  field-hand,  land-owner  and  preacher 
disclose  similar  characteristics  as  soon  as  they  are 


128      THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

brought  under  the  same  influences  ;  and  this  is  true  of 
the  blacks  in  every  business  and  profession  which  they 
follow  ;  the  force  of  identical  circumstances  develops  in 
all  the  same  traits  which  probably  up  to  that  time  had 
been  lying  dormant.  So  equally,  indeed,  do  they  share 
the  fundamental  characteristics  of  their  race,  and  so 
powerful  are  these  characteristics,  that  it  is  not  making 
too  broad  a  statement  to  say  that  all  negroes,  with  very 
few  exceptions  in  proportion  to  the  great  mass,  will  act 
exactly  in  the  same  way  in  the  same  situation,  and  will 
display  precisely  the  same  qualities.  If  their  situations 
are  identical,  then  they  are  all  as  one  person  ;  but  if  their 
situations  differ,  then  they  are  unlike,  too,  to  the  extent 
of  the  difference  in  the  influences  of  their  respective 
situations.  Indeed,  whatever  diversity  of  spirit  is  ob 
served  among  the  blacks  is  not  so  much  in  kind  as  in  de 
gree  ;  for  instance,  one  is  more  genial  than  another,  or 
more  impulsive  or  more  improvident,  or  more  thought 
less,  or  more  timid,  or  more  sensual,  but  it  is  quite  rare 
that  a  negro  is  distinguished  for  the  opposite  of  any  one 
of  these  qualities,  even  in  a  moderate  state  of  develop 
ment.  They  have  the  same  underlying  characteristics, 
but  not  to  the  same  extent  ;  the  root,  if  not  the  full 
flower  of  the  same  traits,  however,  is  found  in  all.  These 
traits  are  so  vigorous  and  deep-seated,  and,  on  the  whole, 
so  little  receptive  to  influences  that  seem  calculated  to 
modify  them,  that  the  general  disposition  of  the  indi 
vidual  and  the  race  can  be  studied  with  as  much  latitude 
and  with  as  much  thoroughness  in  a  small  as  in  a  large 
community,  or  in  one  locality  as  in  a  whole  common 
wealth,  or  extensive  region  unconfmed  by  State  lines. 

Slavery,  by  reducing  the  negroes  to  the  same  social 
condition,  undoubtedly  did  much  to  dwarf  the  growth 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS. 

of  distinctive  individualities  among  them,  but  it  did  lit 
tle  to  repress  those  moral  qualities  that  belong  to  them 
as  a  people,  if  we  except  restlessness,  for  this  it  subdued 
with  a  firm  and  resolute  hand.  It  is  very  plain  that  these 
peculiar  qualities  have  been  fostered  much  more  under  the 
new  system  than  they  were  under  the  old,  because  every 
check  that  was  put  upon  them  then  has  been  removed. 
The  blacks  are  now  at  liberty  to  act  just  as  they  prefer 
to  act,  wholly  unhampered  by  authority  or  uncurbed  by 
public  sentiment  ;  the  unrestricted  indulgence  of  their 
instincts  in  consequence,  however  injurious  to  them 
selves  or  destructive  to  society,  has  served  only  to  fix 
these  instincts  more  deeply  in  their  natures.  Then,  too, 
emancipation  enlarged  the  scope  of  these  instincts,  by 
increasing  the  opportunities  for  their  gratification.  When 
we  compare  the  negroes  who  have  come  of  age  since  the 
war  with  those  who  grew  to  maturity  under  the  discipline 
of  slavery,  we  find  that  the  former  are  more  impatient  of 
every  kind  of  restraint  than  the  latter,  and  more  eager 
and  determined  to  escape  from  it.  Their  character  ap 
proximates  in  other  respects  equally  as  important,  more 
closely  to  the  original  African  type  than  the  character  of 
their  fathers  who  were  once  slaves.  This  is  due  par 
tially  to  the  fact  that  the  whole  race  is  fast  reverting  to 
the  original  physical  type,  and  therefore  to  the  original 
moral  ;  this  is  sufficient  in  itself  to  strengthen  and  in 
tensify  those  qualities  of  the  race  that  have  always  given 
it  such  a  unique  position  among  the  various  peoples  who 
constitute  mankind.  The  further  development  of  these 
traits  means  the  further  departure  of  the  negroes  from 
the  standards  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  The  new  generation, 
in  being  less  accustomed  to  restraint  than  the  old,  are 
therefore  more  inclined  to  act  upon  their  natural  im- 


130      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A   FREEMAN. 

pulses.  They  are  more  headstrong  than  their  immediate 
ancestors,  and  to  that  degree,  have  a  more  decided  ten 
dency  to  retrograde.  They  seem  to  have  inherited  the 
unfortunate  qualities  of  the  slaves  without  having  ac 
quired  any  of  the  superior  qualities  of  the  whites  ;  the  influ 
ences  of  freedom  apparently  failing  to  cultivate  in  them 
that  respect  for  themselves  which  is  the  foundation  of  all 
that  is  excellent  and  admirable  in  character,  and  without 
which  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  improve.  They  inter 
pret  liberty  as  signifying  license  only  ;  in  consequence, 
they  are  not  more  correct  in  their  conduct  than  the  gen 
eration  passing  off  the  stage.  Neither  are  they  firmer 
and  steadier  ;  they  are  rather  more  fickle  and  unstable. 
Nor  are  they  more  determined  in  maintaining  their  rights 
when  these  are  infringed  upon  ;  they  are  as  easily  over 
awed  and  intimidated.  In  short,  we  look  in  vain  in  the 
character  of  the  new  generation  for  those  nascent  quali 
ties  of  a  great  people  which  the  declining  generation 
lack  ;  we  find  in  them  only  too  many  of  those  qualities 
that  have  kept  the  African  upon  the  lowest  plane  of  hu 
manity  since  the  dawn  of  civilization. 

When  we  analyze  this  general  disposition  of  the  blacks 
as  a  race,  we  find  that  it  is  especially  remarkable  for  its 
inconsistencies.  A  few  disconnected  illustrations  of  this 
fact  may  he  given.  For  instance,  they  show,  under  firm 
discipline,  a  degree  of  energy  and  a  power  of  endurance 
that  are  unequalled  by  their  sturdiest  competitors  drawn 
from  the  most  resolute  and  industrious  nationalities,  and 
yet,  as  soon  as  this  temporary  supervision  is  relaxed, 
they  will  sink  into  habits  of  indifference  and  sloth  that 
are  only  observed  in  the  most  enervated  and  effeminate 
peoples.  They  have  the  highest  capacity  for  strenuous 
and  continuous  work,  associated  with  the  greatest  prone- 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  13! 

ness  to  indolence.  When  either  of  these  opposing  traits 
of  the  negro's  individuality  is  exhibited,  it  seems  im 
possible  that  the  other  can  exist  in  such  intimate  con 
nection  with  it  that  it  is  ready  to  disclose  itself  at  any 
instant  of  time.  Circumstances  alone  are  required  to 
repress  the  one  for  the  moment  and  develop  the  other. 
Thus,  laborers  who  will  bustle  forward  in  the  sweltering 
harvest  fields  in  cheerful  unconsciousness  of  the  heat  to 
which  they  are  completely  exposed  will  be  seen  in  the 
intervals  of  holiday  strolling  about  with  umbrellas  care 
fully  extended  over  their  heads  or  lolling  in  the  shadow 
of  the  eaves  of  the  store.  In  the  same  spirit  they  will 
enter  into  engagements  and  perform,  during  the  course 
of  several  months,  the  most  exacting  tasks  with  stoutness 
and  alacrity,  and  then  dissipate  the  rest  of  the  year  in 
puerile  amusements. 

Again,  the  negro  may  be  anxious  to  acquire  property, 
and  yet  it  will  not  occur  t?o  him  to  repress  those  qualities 
in  himself  that  obstruct  the  fulfilment  of  his  wishes.  He 
runs  headlong  into  debt  or  wastes  his  wages  in  extrava 
gant  self-indulgence  at  the  time  that  he  is  solicitous  to 
purchase  a  tract  of  land  or  a  horse,  mule,  or  cow,  or 
other  form  of  property  that  will  add  to  his  permanent 
convenience  and  comfort.  This  disposition  to  neglect 
the  means  as  adapted  to  the  end  in  view  is  shown  by  him 
•in  all  of  his  affairs  and  in  every  situation  in  which  he  is 
placed  ;  his  indifference  to  the  means,  indeed,  seems  to 
be  in  proportion  to  his  eagerness  to  secure  an  object,  for 
this  eagerness  only  makes  him  more  heedless  and  impul 
sive.  He  would  display  the  same  carelessness  whether 
acting  for  himself  or  merely  as  the  agent  of  others  in 
whose  employment  he  may  happen  to  be.  The  explana 
tion  of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that,  however  fully  a  wish  or 


132       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

aspiration  may  appear  to  take  possession  of  him,  it  is 
never  vigorous  enough  to  resist  the  force  of  some  passing 
fancy  or  appetite,  which  may  render  its  final  attainment 
impossible. 

A  still  more  remarkable  proof  of  the  inconsistency  of  the 
general  disposition  of  the  negroes  is  that  characteristic  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded,  namely,  the  intimate  union  of 
devoutness  and  immorality  in  their  conduct.  Those  who 
are  distinguished  for  the  most  sincere,  fervent,  and  en 
thusiastic  piety  are  often  those  who  are  most  notable  for 
violating  precepts  upon  which  the  spirit  of  divine  and 
human  laws  alike  lays  the  strongest  emphasis.  They 
either  do  not  recognize  the  relation  of  religion  to  their 
daily  lives  or  they  cannot  but  succumb  to  their  impulses, 
however  opposed  to  the  lessons  that  they  have  received. 
To  whatever  level  of  vice  or  crime  they  may  fall,  they 
still  retain  and  disclose  the  same  religious  aspirations, 
untouched  by  the  least  taint  of  hypocrisy  and  unobscured 
by  the  smallest  shadow  of  doubt.  These  aspirations 
are  entirely  disconnected  from  their  own  careers  ;  being 
common  to  the  murderers,  ravishers,  and  thieves,  as  well 
as  to  those  who,  on  the  whole,  are  respectable  men  and 
reputable  citizens,  not  resting  upon  any  consciousness  of 
depravity,  but  arising  altogether  unprompted  and  apart, 
being  found  as  frequently  associated  with  the  grossest 
and  most  ruthless  propensities  as  with  mild  and  winning 
qualities. 

Again,  however  amiable  the  negro  may  be,  he  is  in 
different  to  suffering  in  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life. 
There  is  nothing  in  mere  helplessness  that  softens  his 
sensibilities  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  only  sufficient  for  any 
living  thing  to  be  at  his  mercy  for  him  to  bear  himself 
harshly  or  brutally  towards  it  ;  in  this  he  shows  a  strong 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  133 

resemblance  to  children,  although  unlike  children  he  is 
cruel,  rather  for  the  pleasure  which  the  infliction  of  pain 
affords  him  than  out  of  mere  thoughtlessness.  His 
cruelty,  however,  is  generally  free  from  vindictiveness. 
Even  as  a  slave,  when  he  was  easily  governed,  he  could 
not  be  prevented  from  maltreating  the  animals  under  his 
charge,  and  now  that  he  is  free  he  is  more  callous  in  this 
respect,  as  he  does  not  fear  his  employer  as  much  as  he 
did  his  owner.  His  horses,  and  oxen  are  commonly 
found  maimed  in  a  short  time  after  coming  under  his 
control,  the  eyes  of  the  oxen  suffering  especially  on 
account  of  the  heavy  and  sharp  thong  of  the  whip  which 
he  uses.  He  is  often  seen  lashing  his  team  without 
reason  or  provocation,  while  he  sings  with  a  cheerfulness 
and  gayety  that  are  not  at  all  disturbed  by  the  writhing 
of  the  unfortunate  beasts.  In  the  same  spirit  he  takes 
delight  in  butchering  beeves  or  mutton,  although  a  mere 
apprentice,  or  in  shooting  curs  that  have  been  ordered 
to  be  killed.  He  will  also  cuff  his  children  or  speak  to 
them  more  roughly  than  the  occasion  requires  or  his 
anger  itself  impels.  The  possession  of  power  makes  him 
tyrannical  to  its  full  extent,  however  jovial  or  light- 
hearted  he  may  be,  for  beneath  the  surface  of  his 
character  there  is  a  certain  bluntness  and  insensibility 
that  circumstances  can  develop  into  reckless  ferocity. 

Again,  although  the  negro  is  docile  under  strict  and 
direct  personal  discipline,  he  is  averse  to  restraint  i^his 
heart.  As  long,  however,  as  he  feels  the  pressure  of  a 
stern  and  exacting  watchfulness,  he  yields  to  it  with 
resignation  and  cheerfulness.  He  does  not  grow  openly 
restive  and  turbulent  even  occasionally,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  desire  to  escape  is  not  the  less  fixed  and  eager, 
as  will  be  shown  at  the  first  opportunity. 


134     THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A  FREEMAN. 

In  the  same  way,  his  submissiveness  to  personal  au 
thority  is  not  accompanied  by  respect  for  the  require 
ments  of  the  general  law  when  these  conflict  with  his 
impulses,  passions,  or  interests.  The  spirit  of  obedience 
which  he  displays  when  he  is  closely  superintended 
causes  him  to  do  many  things  which  he  has  no  wish  to 
do,  or  to  refrain  from  doing  many  things  he  is  anxious  to 
do,  whereas  the  fear  of  that  legal  punishment  which  he  is 
assured  will  follow  his  acts  does  not  prevent  him  from 
carrying  out  the  intention  of  the  moment,  however 
improper  or  however  criminal.  The  moral  influence 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  must  be  direct,  resolute,  and 
personal  to  control  his  conduct.  No  race  responds  more 
quickly  or  fully  to  such  influences,  or  shows  such  insensi 
bility  to  those  that  are  impersonal  and  remote  in  a  moral 
sense. 

Another  element  of  contradiction  in  the  character  of 
the  negro  is  an  alert  imitativeness  associated  with  the 
most  wonderful  persistency  in  conforming  to  the  real 
bent  of  his  nature.  He  is  eager  to  ape  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  whites,  and  yet  reveals  in  his  own  infir 
mities  that  he  is  incapable  of  adopting  any  thing  but  the 
form.  His  disposition  is  constantly  warping  him  from 
standards  which  he  wishes  to  follow,  and  so  far  that  as 
pirations  that  would  otherwise  make  him  more  estimable 
only  serve  to  disclose  his  weakness  the  more  clearly,  as 
these  aspirations  are  so  entirely  out  of  sympathy  and 
accord  with  his  conduct. 

These  and  similar  inconsistencies  that  distinguish  the 
race  are  not  displayed  by  fits  and  starts  like  the  contra 
dictory  qualities  of  mercurial  temperaments  that  shift 
from  one  mood  to  another  without  any  motive.  How 
ever  wide  apart,  and  however  unlike  the  points  between 


MORAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  13$ 

which  the  pendulum  of  his  individuality  oscillates,  the 
negro  always  acts  in  harmony  with  some  feeling  that 
overmasters  him  for  the  moment,  and  that  feeling  is  the 
inevitable  consequence  of  the  fleeting  circumstances  that 
surround  him.  He  is  changeable  only  as  these  circum 
stances  are  changeable  ;  as  long  as  they  remain  the  same, 
he  himself  does  not  vary,  but  he  responds  at  once  to  any 
alteration  in  them.  He  seems  to  be  altogether  incapable 
of  bending  circumstances  to  his  own  will,  or  rising  supe 
rior  to  them  by  firmness  of  spirit.  No  one  has  more 
antagonistic  qualities  than  he,  but  nevertheless  of  no 
one  can  it  be  predicted  with  more  confidence  and  pre 
cision  what  he  will  do  under  the  pressure  of  the  same 
influences.  He  is  hasty,  thoughtless,  and  impulsive,  and 
yet  these  characteristics  do  not  force  him  to  run  counter 
to  inclinations  that  his  situation  has  raised.  He  obeys 
the  natural  voice  within  him  wholly  unconscious  of  those 
cross  currents  of  feeling  that  so  often  perplex  the  wills 
of  white  men,  or  that  spirit  of  self-repression  that  so 
often  controls  their  conduct  even  when  profoundly 
stirred  ;  the  consequence  is  that  all  that  is  best  in  him, 
as  well  as  all  that  is  worst,  finds  outward  expression  in 
the  most  emphatic  and  energetic  way,  because  in  the 
most  direct  and  untrammelled.  One  emotion  succeeds 
another  so  rapidly  in  his  breast  when  the  circumstances 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  are  changing  that  it  is  difficult 
to  recognize  that  he  is  the  same  person,  so  impossible 
does  it  seem  that  emotions  so  radically  inimical,  and  dis 
closing  themselves  so  diversely,  can  exist  in  the  same 
person.  These  emotions  are  not  superficial,  but  go  to 
the  very  foundation  of  his  character,  and  they  deserve  the 
warmest  praise  or  the  most  severe  reprobation  as  they 
touch  either  extreme  ;  and  they  are  touching  both  so 


I36       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

often  that  we  praise  and  berate  him  almost  in  the  same 
breath.  He  will  expose  himself  to  contempt  one  mo-  * 
ment  by  yielding  unreservedly  to  some  depraved  instinct, 
and  secure  respect  the  next  by  proving  himself  to  be  the 
most  amiable  of  men,  the  most  active  of  laborers,  or  the 
most  obliging  and  cheerful  of  attendants.  Here,  for  in 
stance,  is  a  domestic  servant  who  happens  to  be  inclined 
to  petty  thievishness.  This  subjects  him  to  repeated 
rebukes,  but  if  he  is  carefully  watched  and  firmly  man 
aged,  he  does  so  well  the  work  which  he  is  ordered  to  do, 
he  is  so  ready  in  performing  any  task  which  is  given  him 
outside  of  the  province  of  his  special  duties,  and  is  so 
faithful,  on  the  whole,  if  he  is  not  tempted,  that  his 
master  will  warmly  declare  that  he  is  invaluable,  nay 
indispensable,  when  perhaps  the  day  before  he  was  seri 
ously  turning  over  in  his  own  mind  whether  he  should 
not  dismiss  him.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  very 
man  who  would  not  shrink  from  filching  his  employer's 
property  would  rise  with  anxious  alacrity  at  any  hour  of 
the  night,  however  threatening  the  weather,  if  that  em 
ployer  were  suddenly  taken  ill,  would  ride  twenty  miles 
if  necessary  through  darkness  and  over  rough  country 
roads  to  summon  a  physician,  would  nurse  the  patient 
during  his  illness,  and  would  hail  his  recovery  with 
unaffected  joy.  Even  more  than  that,  the  negro  whq, 
under  the  influence  of  a  passing  emotion  of  resentment 
for  some  trifling  offense,  would  be  the  first  to  apply  the 
torch  to  his  employer's  barn,  or  even  to  poison  that  em 
ployer  himself,  would  perhaps  be  the  very  one  who  had 
during  a  long  course  of  time  served  him  with  peculiar 
zeal  and  devotion. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  notable  peculiarities  of  the  negro's 
character  that  it  is  not  necessarily  debased  because  it  is 


MORAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  1 37 

remarkable  for  criminal  traits  ;  in  other  words,  the  fact 
that  he  is  wholly  corrupt  in  some  respects  does  not  signify 
that  his  general  nature  is  demoralized.  We  often  ob 
serve  among  the  whites  men  who  are  worthy  of  esteem, 
although  addicted  to  certain  vices,  but  never  men  en 
titled  to  it  who  are  criminally  depraved.  When  they 
sink  to  the  lowest  point  in  one  direction  their  entire 
nature  becomes  degraded,  because  they  recognize  that 
they  have  fallen  irretrievably  in  the  regard  of  their  own 
race,  which  reacts  upon  the  opinion  that  they  entertain 
of  themselves  whether  they  are  inclined  to  be  shameless 
or  not.  They  see  the  public  sentiment  as  to  their  con 
duct  reflected  in  the  glances  of  contempt,  disgust,  or 
horror  of  their  former  friends  and  companions  who 
shrink  away  from  them  as  branded  with  eternal  disgrace. 
Their  own  consciences  convict  them.  They  harden  in 
their  wickedness  under  these  influences,  or  their  lives  are 
irrevocably  blighted. 

Qn  the  other  hand,  when  a  plantation  negro  is  guilty 
of  crime,  he  is  not  made  to  feel  the  indignation  and 
scorn  of  his  race  ;  he  is  received,  on  the  contrary,  as 
cordially  as  if  he  had  not  committed  an  offense  that 
should  properly  fix  an  ineffaceable  stigma  upon  his  repu 
tation.  The  faces  of  his  associates  are  not  turned  away 
from  him,  and  there  is  no  severity  in  their  gaze.  Then, 
too,  the  sentiment  of  the  white  people  with  respect  to 
his  act,  however  keen  and  bitter,  does  not  affect  him, 
owing  to  the  breadth  and  depth  of  the  social  gulf  be 
tween  them.  The  consequence  is  that  no  pressure  of 
importance  is  brought  to  bear  to  lower  him  in  his  own 
opinion  by  degrading  him  in  the  opinion  of  others.  In 
the  instance  of  some  vices  and  crimes  his  character  can 
not  be  said  to  be  demoralized,  even  to  the  extent  of  the 


138       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A   FREEMAN. 

scandalous  and  profligate  acts  committed,  because  there 
are  some  courses  of  conduct  which  the  white  people 
consider  to  be  abandoned  and  flagitious  which  the 
negroes  do  not  look  upon  as  even  immoral.  When, 
therefore,  he  falls  into  these,  he  does  not  experience  a 
sensation  of  impropriety  or  depravity.  The  corruption 
usually  attending  them  is  not  spread  abroad  through  his 
whole  nature  like  a  morbid  contagion.  Many  of  the 
individuals  of  his  race  are  eminently  respectable  as  long 
as  they  are  not  exposed  to  some  form  of  temptation  that 
appeals  directly  to  a  special  infirmity  ;  as  soon  as  that 
infirmity  is  touched,  however,  they  show  themselves  to 
be  as  corrupt  to  that  degree  as  one  who  is  unscrupulous 
in  all  things.  Those  great  weaknesses  that  we  observe 
in  the  characters  of  many  white  persons,  associated  with 
the  noblest  and  loftiest  qualities,  find  their  counterpart 
in  the  individuality  of  the  negro  in  vicious  or  criminal 
traits,  united  to  much  that  is  worthy  of  affection  and 
esteem.  In  consequence  of  this  singular  inequality  of 
nature,  there  is,  in  some  respects,  less  difference  than 
would  have  been  expected  between  the  disposition  of 
the  average  negro  convict  who  is  serving  a  term  and  the 
average  individual  of  the  race  at  large.  The  divergence 
between  the  dispositions  of  the  two  is  rather  in  the  com 
parative  vigor  of  certain  moral  qualities,  such  as  boldness, 
resolution,  and  firmness,  than  in  the  groundwork  of  their 
respective  characters.  The  ordinary  types  of  negroes 
who  are  found  inside  of  the  prisons  are  not,  as  a  rule,  at 
all  unlike  those  outside,  in  the  mere  aspect  of  their 
physiognomies  ;  occasionally  a  face  is  marked  by  deep 
lines  of  brutality,  or  there  is  a  sinister  look  in  the  eyes  ; 
usually,  however,  we  discover  in  the  countenances  of  the 
chain-gang  the  same  vacancy  or  amiability  of  expression 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  139 

that  we  detect  in  the  countenances  of  the  members  of 
their  race  whom  we  meet  on  the  highways.  When  these 
prisoners  are  released  and  return  to  the  neighborhoods 
where  they  formerly  lived,  they  mingle  as  freely  with  their 
people  as  they  ever  did,  and  are  not  to  be  distinguished  in 
any  way  from  the  mass. 

Whoever  seeks  to  judge  the  moral  character  of  the 
negro  without  having  any  knowledge  of  him  from  per 
sonal  contact,  is  very  apt  to  be  misled  by  the  notion  that 
he  is  merely  a  white  man  in  disposition  whom  the  Cre 
ator  has  endowed  with  a  black  skin.  Plainly  as  his 
complexion  distinguishes  him  from  the  whites,  to  the 
eye,  it  will  be  discovered,  after  association  with  him  for  a 
great  length  of  time,  to  be  one  of  the  smallest  points  of 
difference  between  him  and  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Remove 
all  trace  of  that  color  with  which  Nature  has  painted  his 
rugged  countenance,  wash  away  every  stain  that  darkens 
it,  and  the  moral  traits  that  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  his 
race  would  cause  him  still  to  occupy  an  original  and 
unique  position.  How  far  these  traits  will  be  modified 
in  the  future  by  the  transmitted  influences  of  a  more 
refined  and  elevated  condition  remains  to  be  seen.  It 
may  be  true,  as  some  ethnologists  believe,  that  the 
highest  personal  type  of  civilization  is  far  more  a  result 
of  inherited  instincts  and  knowledge  than  of  innate 
superiority  of  race  ;  the  future  alone  can  verify  the  cor 
rectness  of  this  theory  in  the  instance  of  the  negro.  At 
his  present  stage  of  growth  he  resembles  his  former 
owner  as  little  morally  as  he  does  physically.  The  two 
races  undoubtedly  share  many  qualities,  because  they 
have  the  same  appetites  which,  working  upon  their  char 
acters  in  the  same  way,  have  left  a  similar  impression. 
They  are  like  each  other  to  the  extent  that  they  belong 


140      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A  FREEMAN. 

to   the   same   animal  kingdom,  but  there   the   likeness 
ends. 

The  nearest  approach  which  the  blacks  make  to  the 
character  of  the  whites,  in  traits  not  due  to  the  influence 
of  their  bodies,  is  to  be  found  in  their  general  resem 
blance  to  white  children.  They  have  many  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  latter  owing  to  a  common  immaturity 
of  nature  rather  than  to  any  substantial  and  permanent 
similarity  between  the  two  races.  As  a  result  of  this 
immaturity  of  nature,  there  are  few  essential  differences 
between  a  colored  parent  and  his  child  except  those  that 
belong  to  mere  physical  strength  apart  from  the  moral 
disposition.  Father  and  mother,  son  and  daughter, 
however  old  the  former  and  however  young  the  latter^ 
are  remarkable  for  the  same  inability  to  control  them 
selves  owing  to  common  peculiarities  of  temper,  for  the 
same  dulness  of  the  power  of  retrospection,  and  the 
same  lack  of  foresight.  Age  seems  to  bring  to  the  negro 
no  keener  sense  of  the  solemn  mystery  of  life.  It  gives 
no  breadth  or  depth  to  his  character.  It  breathes  into 
him  little  of  that  spirit  which  excites  reverence  and 
veneration.  It  invests  him  with  little  of  that  dignity 
which  ennobles  gray  hairs,  feeble  limbs,  and  wrinkled 
faces.  The  decrepitude  of  a  frame  that  was  once  erect 
and  vigorous  must  always  be  impressive,  but  it  is  rather 
as  a  general  example  of  natural  decay  that  he,  bowed 
down  under  the  burden  of  many  years,  appeals  to  the 
observer.  The  fading  of  his  various  faculties  is  for 
gotten  ;  his  dotage  is  pathetic  only  as  a  decline  of  his 
physical  powers.  The  negro  who  has  reached  a  mature 
period  of  life  bears  himself  with  as  much  careless  vacancy 
of  mind  as  if  he  had  not  passed  his  second  decade  ;  the 
same  amusements  afford  him  pleasure,  and  the  same  joys 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  \^\ 

enliven  the  passage  of  his  hours  that  delighted  him  in 
his  jovial  adolescence.  Time  in  its  flight  from  day  to 
day,  season  to  season,  and  year  to  year,  does  not  seem 
to  touch  him  at  all  with  that  magical  wand  which  works 
a  far  more  wonderful  change  in  the  soul  and  heart  of 
the  white  man  than  chemical  forces  do  in  material 
substances.  As  long  as  life  itself  lasts  he  retains  the 
spirit  of  childhood.  Youth  does  not  altogether  desert 
him  ;  its  freshness,  its  inconsequence,  its  contentment 
with  the  present,  its  inability  to  look  back  on  the  past 
with  regret  or  anticipate  the  future  with  fear,  lurk  in  the 
recesses  of  his  soul  when  his  form  has  shrunk,  when  his 
hands  tremble,  and  his  feet  totter  as  they  walk. 

The  general  impression  after  long  and  intimate  con 
tact  with  negroes  is  that,  as  a  race,  they  -bear  the  same 
moral  relation  to  the  Caucasian  as  a  child  does  to  an 
adult.  It  is  just  as  if  the  race  itself  was  an  individual 
who  had  not  passed  that  stage  of  growth  which  we 
designate  as  infancy.  This  immaturity,  nevertheless, 
does  not  strike  one  as  being  such  as  the  race,  following 
a  law  as  natural  and  inevitable  as  that  which  we  observe 
in  personal  development,  will  necessarily  outgrow.  This 
may  be  due,  however,  to  the  mere  effect  upon  the  mind 
of  discovering  the  same  traits  in  the  old  and  the  young 
alike.  When  we  compare  the  man  of  advanced  years 
with  the  youth,  we  detect  such  slight  differences,  other 
than  those  which  are  wholly  physical,  that  to  anticipate 
that  the  race  will  mature,  in  the  light  of  that  example,  is 
apparently  the  same  as  expecting  that  a  white  man  of 
powerful  frame,  but  morally  and  intellectually  blasted 
by  disease  very  soon  after  his  birth,  will  in  time  lose  his 
deep-seated  infirmities  by  the  force  of  various  influences. 
The  immaturity  of  the  negro  seems  at  this  period  to  be 


142       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

permanent,  whether  it  is  so  or  not.  The  impression  which 
it  leaves  is  both  strange  and  startling,  because  we  find  it 
associated  with  so  much  corporal  vigor.  His  moral 
deficiencies,  therefore,  instead  of  arousing  our  pity, 
excite  a  sensation  of  suspicion  and  fear.  So  much 
physical  strength  united  to  so  much  moral  weakness 
is  a  combination  of  evil  significance,  although  that 
weakness  itself  would  be  as  unworthy  of  notice  as  the 
weakness  of  a  child  if  he  were  as  feeble  in  body  as  a 
child.  He  would  hold  a  far  more  respectable  position 
in  the  community  in  which  he  lives  than  he  does  now,  if 
his  infirmities  were  intellectual  rather  than  moral  ;  he  is 
stronger  in  mind  than  in  character,  and,  in  consequence, 
the  part  he  plays  is  much  more  important  than  it  is 
reputable.  It  is  essential,  therefore,  that  he  should  be 
educated  more  in  an  ethical  than  in  a  literary  way,  as  a 
possible  check  upon  those  grave  faults  of  character 
which  the  cultivation  of  his  mental  capacity  would  foster 
rather  than  remove.  Before  discussing  the  effect  of  the 
instruction  which  he  has  so  far  received  in  the  public 
schools,  it  is  proper  that  I  should  first  dwell  at  some 
length  on  his  intellectual,  as  sharply  distinguished  from 
his  moral,  disposition. 


GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS — MENTAL. 

A  CAREFUL  observation  of  the  intellectual  character  of 
negroes,  creates  the  impression  that  their  is  a  remark 
able  equality  in  their  mental  capacity,  if  we  except  a 
very  few  individuals.  It  is  comparatively  rare  to  find 
one  who  either  rises  above  or  sinks  below  the  general 
level  of  the  degree  of  intelligence  with  which  the  race  is 
endowed.  A  transfusion  of  Caucasian  blood,  however, 
seems  to  quicken  the  African  mind,  and  as  the  volume 
of  that  transfusion  is  increased,  there  is  a  nearer  ap 
proach  in  many  important  particulars,  to  the  intellectual 
traits  of  the  white  people.  The  mass  of  the  mulattoes, 
however,  although  brighter  and  livelier  in  understanding 
than  the  blacks,  are  not,  on  the  whole,  distinguished  for 
a  notable  superiority  in  mental  grasp  and  comprehen 
sion.  While  the  average  mulatto  pupil  in  the  public 
schools,  learns  more  readily  and  rapidly  than  his  darker 
companions,  and  while  too,  a  much  larger  number  of 
scholars  of  his  color  may  show  proficiency  as  compared 
with  the  same  number  of  young  negroes  of  unmixed 
blood,  yet  the  most  intelligent  representatives  of  the  two 
respective  shades,  stand  on  the  same  footing,  substantial 
ly,  the  pure  black  reaching  this  position  of  equality  by 
greater  toil  and  steadier  plodding. 

I  shall  omit  the  mulattoes  from  view,  as  a  class  that  is 
likely  in  a  few  generations  to  revert  almost  wholly  to  the 

143 


144      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

original  type  in  all  rural  districts  where  even  now,  they 
are  not  numerous  and  influential  enough  to  constitute 
a  circle  of  their  own,  which  they  can  continue  indefinitely 
by  intermarriage,  and  where,  in  fact,  their  rapid  decline 
in  numbers,  is  due  not  only  to  the  growing  reserve  of 
the  white  men,  but  also  to  the  marked  preference  which 
the  blacks  themselves  have  for  women  of  the  lightest 
complexion. 

It  is  surprising  to  find  that  the  negroes  proper,  rise 
more  frequently  above  the  common  level  of  intelligence 
than  fall  below  it.  The  exceptions  to  the  general  rule 
are  numerically  greater  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter 
direction.  In  some  respects,  this  common  level  is  higher 
than  would  have  been  thought  probable  ;  it  is  question 
able,  indeed,  whether  there  are  any  people  who  occupy  so 
low  a  position  in  the  family  of  races,  as  observed  in  their 
original  habitations,  and  who  have  passed  through  so 
much  elsewhere  that  has  been  such  as  to  continue  them 
in  a  degraded  state,  are  superior  within  a  certain  range  of 
thought  to  the  blacks,  although  that  range  is  very  nar 
row.  Their  mean  condition,  wherever  found,  is  to  be 
attributed,  in  large  measure,  to  their  general  poverty  of 
intellect,  but  it  is  due  still  more  to  the  moral  weakness  of 
their  character,  or  rather,  to  certain  mental  weaknesses 
that  hover  so  closely  on  the  borders  of  moral  infirmities 
that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  they  are  mental  or 
moral.  If  their  mental  qualities  were  supported  by  cer 
tain  moral  qualities  that  have  entered  into  the  disposition 
of  every  race  that  has  attained  to  distinction  in  history 
(and  which  has  been  considered  a  superior  race  prin 
cipally  because  it  had  these  moral  qualities),  then  a  nota 
ble  difference  would  be  detected  in  the  vigor  of  their 
intellectual  powers,  for  these  would  not  be  dissipated  or 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  145 

hampered  as  they  now  are.  One  moral  quality  of  this 
kind,  which  they  lack,  may  be  mentioned  by  way  of 
example.  This  is  what  may  be  called,  in  the  absence  of  a 
single  term,  continued  or  sustained  force  of  will,  in  which 
the  character  of  the  negro  is  singularly  defective,  both 
because  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  every  transient  emotion  and 
passion,  and  because  he  has  little  capacity  for  concentra 
ting  his  mental  faculties,  even  apart  from  such  influences. 
If  the  race  were  remarkable  for  unusual  acuteness,  the 
absence  of  this  sustained  force  of  will  would  obstruct  for 
all  useful  purposes,  the  intellectual  activity  of  its  mem 
bers.  The  general  impression  of  intellectual  weakness 
which  association  with  them  leaves  upon  the  mind  of  any 
one  who  studies  their  peculiarities,  is  due  more  to  the 
want  of  this  faculty  and  faculties  similiar  to  it,  than  to 
the  inherent  infirmities  of  their  intellects,  numerous  and 
obvious  as  these  infirmities  are.  The  chief  difficulty 
with  which  the  negro  has  to  contend  in  the  practical 
affairs  of  life  is  not  so  much  obtuseness,  by  which  I 
mean  confused  perceptions  that  blind  him  to  his  true 
interests,  as  an  inability,  on  account  of  certain  moral 
qualities,  to  pursue  uninterruptedly  and  without  swer 
ving,  a  course  of  conduct  that  is  necessary  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  his  objects,  at  the  very  time  that  he  clearly 
understands  that  such  a  course  is  necessary.  It  is  owing 
to  the  absence  of  this  sustained  power  of  will,  rather  than 
to  intellectual  stupidity,  that  the  negro  stands  so  much  in 
need  of  mental  discipline  to  brace  and  strengthen  his 
fluctuating  and  languishing  intellectual  energies.  The 
advance  that  he  has  undoubtedly  made,  which  is  plain 
enough  when  we  compare  him  as  he  is  now,  with  his 
remote  African  ancestors,  or  with  his  contemporary 
kinsmen  in  the  forests  of  the  dark  Continent,  is  due,  in 


146      THE  PLANTA  TION  NEGRO  AS  A  FREEMAN. 

large  measure,  to  that  rigid  supervision  to  which  he 
had  to  submit  as  a  slave,  which  enforced  habits  of 
application  that  were  only  another  form  of  concen 
trated  attention  or  fixed  resolution.  There  can  be 
no  hope  of  the  improvement  of  his  race  until  this  mental 
instability  has  been  removed,  and  if  this  is  impossible, 
then  the  race  can  never  make  any  real  progress  beyond 
its  present  position.  There  is  much  danger,  now,  that 
the  general  laxness  which  enjoyment  of  freedom  has  fos 
tered  in  its  members,  will  destroy  whatever  impression 
the  discipline  of  servitude  left  in  this  respect.  Their 
present  tendency  is  to  revert  to  their  ancestral  condition 
in  this  direction,  and  this  tendency  will  grow  more  pro 
nounced,  unless  some  substitute  can  be  found  for  the 
discipline  referred  to.  A  purely  literary  education  will 
not  supply  it.  It  is  questionable  whether  any  institution 
of  learning  could  accomplish  much  for  the  overwhelm 
ing  majority  of  the  blacks,  unless  industrial  or  military 
training  of  a  severe  and  exacting  character  was  associ 
ated  with  the  ordinary  literary  courses.  That  common- 
sense  in  which  the  negro  is  by  no  means  lacking  will 
not  supply  it.  The  fact  that  it  does  not,  is  palpa 
ble.  He  may  comprehend  very  .clearly  what  he  ought 
to  do  for  his  own  good,  and  yet  his  moral  qualities 
are  so  overmastering  that  it  amounts,  in  fact,  to  the 
same  thing  as  if  he  were  insensible  to  his  own  inter 
ests.  This  is  very  noticeable  in  the  men  and  women 
who  have  grown  up  since  the  war,  as  compared  with 
those  in  whom  a  spirit  of  self-restraint  was  more  or  less 
inculcated  by  slavery  ;  the  consequence  has  been,  that 
the  former  have  not  accumulated  property  in  the  same 
proportion  to  their  number  as  the  latter  have  done.  The 
same  trait,  however,  is  found  in  both  the  older  and 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  147 

younger  generations,  although  in  a  different  degree,  sim 
ply  because  it  is  characteristic  of  the  race.  As  a  rule, 
the  blacks  are  singularly  aspiring,  and  yet  how  hollow 
and  impotent  this  disposition  appears,  in  most  instances, 
not  because  it  is  unworthy  and  ignoble  in  itself,  but  be 
cause  it  is  linked  to  moral  qualities  that  make  success 
practically  impossible.  It  is  rare  even  that  it  is  invested 
with  the  dignity  of  an  honest  and  strenuous  effort  to 
overcome  the  strength  of  these  moral  infirmities  ;  if  it 
were,  we  would  be  moved  at  once  to  overlook  every 
shortcoming.  The  negro  is  undoubtedly  anxious  to 
receive  an  education,  and  cheerfully  undergoes  many 
hardships  to  realize  his  wishes  in  this  respect,  but  edu 
cation  represents  a  definite  idea  which  his  mind  readily 
grasps.  Here  is  the  spelling-book,  there  is  the  slate ; 
the  course  is  all  laid  out,  the  path  is  clear  ;  above  all,  he 
is  under  the  constraining  influence  of  his 'teacher,  which 
is  a  direct  and  appreciable  form  of  discipline.  But  if 
the  object  which  he  wishes  to  secure,  is  less  tangible  ;  if 
to  secure  it,  requires  a  constant  and  prolonged  watch 
over  his  passions  and  inclinations  ;  and  if  he  is  supported 
by  no  strength  except  that  which  may  lie  in  his  own  na 
ture,  then  it  is  rare  indeed  that  his  recognition  of  what 
his  true  interests  are,  ever  aids  him  to  realize  his  aspi 
rations.  In  short,  he  is  as  powerless  for  the  want  of 
sustained  force  of  will,  as  a  drifting  ship  without  a  rud 
der,  because  there  is  no  quality  in  his  character  to  take 
its  place. 

If  the  intellect  of  the  negro  is  examined  apart  from 
the  influence  of  his  moral  qualities,  it  will  be  seen  to 
have  a  fund  of  mother  wit  and  natural  shrewdness  ;  in 
the  larger  sense,  it  is  neither  penetrative  nor  comprehen 
sive,  and  yet  within  a  limited  field  of  activity,  it  has  both 


148       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

keenness  and  grasp.  His  powers  of  apprehension  are 
just  and  accurate  in  direct  contact,  although  his  conclu 
sions  are  rather  those  of  general  intuition  than  a  series 
of  observations  of  even  moderate  exactness.  No  one, 
for  instance,  is  more  astute  than  he,  in  distinguishing  the 
broader  outlines  of  character  of  any  person  with  whom  he 
maybe  thrown  in  an  inferior  capacity  ;  he  adapts  himself 
with  the  ease  and  quickness  of  a  lively  discernment  to 
all  the  leading  peculiarities  of  such  a  person  ;  this  facil 
ity  and  insight  being  partially  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  neces 
sities  of  his  position  as  a  subordinate,  which  compel  him 
to  make  a  careful  study  of  all  the  idiosyncrasies  of  his 
master  or  employer  as  involving  his  selfish  interests  so 
largely.  So  far  as  the  general  disposition  of  that  master 
or  employer  is  concerned,  he  is  rarely  mistaken  in  his 
opinion,  his  conduct  in  relation  to  such  a  superior,  being 
but  a  reflection  of  the  general  qualities  of  the  latter, 
although  a  mere  inability  to  manage  the  servant  or 
laborer  is  frequently  to  be  attributed  to  previous  in 
experience  of  the  character  of  the  negro,  or  the  ap 
plication  to  him  of  the  same  standard  by  which  white 
employes  are  judged. 

The  proverbs  of  the  negro  disclose  a  similar  shrewd 
ness,  their  range  of  observation  being  narrow  and 
confined,  but  the  observation  itself,  often  acute. 
Above  all,  these  proverbs  are  remarkable  for  their  sly 
ness  and  incisiveness  of  humor  and  force  of  good 
humored  sarcasm.  On  the  other  hand,  we  discover  in 
them  no  evidence  of  spiritual  insight  or  elevation  of 
thought  and  view  ;  and  yet  they  are  not  lacking  in 
poetic  sensibility,  especially  when  illustrated  by  meta 
phors  suggested  by  the  various  forms  of  life  to  be  found 
in  the  fields  and  forests.  These  metaphors,  however, 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  149 

reveal  only  a  superficial,  casual,  and  transient  glance. 
The  truth  is,  that  the  perceptive  faculty  of  the  negro  is 
very  imperfect,  but  this  is  ascribable  rather  to  his  gen 
eral  carelessness,  than  to  any  real  defect  in  this  faculty 
itself  which  is  incapable  of  a  remedy.  It  is  very  inexact 
because  he  is  deficient  in  his  manner  of  contemplation, 
this  being  shown  more  particularly  in  his  connection 
with  the  material  world  around  him,  both  in  its  visible 
and  invisible  aspects.  To  a  certain  extent,  he  has  an 
eye  for  the  petty  details  of  external  nature,  but  he  ap 
pears  to  be  wholly  obtuse  to  its  larger  and  more  subtle 
manifestations.  Who  lives  nearer  to  Nature  than  he 
does  ?  He  has  an  opportunity  of  seeing  every  side  of  it 
as  the  seasons  revolve,  and  as  the  months,  days,  and 
hours,  succeed  each  other,  in  calm  and  storm,  in  sun 
shine  and  darkness,  and  yet  he  is  scantily  informed  of 
its  countless  species  of  animal,  insect,  and  vegetable 
life,  and  is  strangely  ignorant  of  its  laws  and  the  general 
spirit  of  its  government.  He  shows  like  dulness,  even 
when  it  exposes  its  beauties  to  his  gaze  in  the  most 
obtrusive  way,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  glories  of  the 
morning  and  evening  skies  or  the  vernal  and  autumnal 
landscapes. 

The  best  criterion  of  the  perceptive  powers  of  the 
negroes,  with  respect  to  what  is  visible  in  an  ocular 
sense  only,  is  their  testimony  in  court.  The  most  in 
telligent  and  conscientious  white  witnesses,  to  the  same 
circumstances,  often  differ  very  much,  as  we  know,  in 
important  items  in  their  statements,  but  the  blacks  when 
put  upon  the  stand  very  frequently  diverge  so  much  in 
their  declarations  as  to  the  same  incident,  although  they 
may  have  been  witnesses  from  exactly  the  same  point  of 
view,  that  it  assumes  an  opposite  character  as  each  one 


150      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

unfolds  his  story.  This  is  due  to  no  conscious  design 
or  even  unconscious  inclination  to  affirm  what  is  not 
true  ;  their  inaccuracy  is  a  form  of  self-deception,  not 
an  intentional  falsehood,  unless  their  self-interests  are 
involved. 

It  is  a  notable  characteristic  of  the  testimony  of 
negroes  that  it  always  includes  a  great  number  of  trivial 
and  irrelevant  details  that  they  suppose  to  have  been 
contemporary  with  the  main  incident  in  issue,  their 
recollection  of  that  incident  being  associated  with  many 
smaller  incidents  that  have  no  real  connection  with  it. 
In  such  testimony,  too,  one  of  their  most  conspicuous 
traits  is  very  often  displayed,  namely,  a  certain  mental 
exuberance  that  finds  expression  in  an  unmeaning  ver 
bosity.  Their  narratives,  as  a  rule,  are  discursive, 
circuitous,  and  incoherent  ;  however  simple  and  easy 
it  is,  apparently,  to  describe  what  they  are  called  upon 
to  do,  their  ideas,  as  they  state  them,  are  almost  lost  in 
the  confusion  of  words.  It  seems  to  be  impossible  for 
them  to  be  circumspect  and  even  moderately  concise  ; 
interruption  only  deepens  still  further  the  maze  in  which 
they  are  toiling.  It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  to  find 
among  them  an  individual  who  is  a  fair  reciter  of  tales, 
for  in  relating  them  he  has  ample  room  for  the  working 
of  his  power  of  imagination. 

Within  certain  well-defined  boundaries  the  negro  is 
both  prompt  and  adroit  in  putting  forward  such  mental 
resources  as  he  has.  He  shows  this  not  only  when  he  is 
suddenly  placed  in  a  situation  of  general  danger  from 
which  he  can  only  extricate  himself  by  his  wits,  but  also 
when  he  is  charged  unexpectedly  with  theft  or  other 
misdemeanor.  The  ease  and  gravity  with  which  he  will 
offer  a  plausible  defense,  or  explain  why  it  is  impossible 


MENTAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  Igl 

that  he  could  have  been  guilty  of  the  act,  although  in 
reality  he  was,  are  often  inimitable.  Even  when  con 
fronted  with  incontestable  proof  of  his  offense,  he  will 
not  infrequently  shift  his  position  and  proffer  a  new  plea 
without  disclosing  any  trace  of  discomposure.  While  he 
displays  this  constructive  power  in  a  narrow  sphere  of 
thought,  it  never  assumes  the  highest  form  of  ingenuity  ; 
he  not  only  seems  to  be  incapable  of  originating  new 
ideas  himself,  but  also  of  utilizing  the  ideas  of  others  for 
new  purposes.  A  notable  characteristic  in  the  same 
line  is  the  little  use  which  he  makes  both  of  his  individual 
and  the  common  recollections.  While  his  memory  is 
retentive  of  details  to  a  certain  extent,  yet  it  never 
produces  that  general  intellectual  effect  which  is  termed 
experience  ;  in  other  words,  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
any  faculty  that,  seizing  upon  the  mass  of  facts  which  his 
memory  has  stored  up,  either  as  belonging  to  his  own 
past  or  derived  from  observation  of  men,  the  earth,  and 
life  in  general,  sifts  and  compares  them,  and  thus  obtains 
a  countless  number  of  deductions  to  regulate  his  course 
of  conduct  in  the  future.  Experience  with  him  is  only 
a  superficial  mental  impression  which  has  no  influence  at 
all  in  governing  his  action.  In  fact,  he  dwells  altogether 
on  the  present,  except  when  he  is  occupied  with  religious 
meditations.  Not  looking  behind  or  forward,  he  is  un 
conscious  both  of  the  receding  and  the  approaching 
shadows.  Neither  the  past  nor  the  future  is  taken  into 
account  by  him.  The  consequence  is  that  his  insight 
into  what  comes  immediately  under  his  view,  which 
alone  interests  him,  is  not  clearer  for  what  he  has 
observed  in  the  course  of  preceding  years.  It  is  im 
possible,  too,  for  that  insight  to  be  just  and  accurate  as 
long  as  he  does  not  seek  to  anticipate  the  probable 


I  $2       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

relation  of  to-morrow  to  to-day.  This  mental  character 
istic  was,  no  doubt,  very  much  fostered  by  the  influence 
of  slavery,  which  made  it  unnecessary  for  him  to  feel  any 
anxiety  about  his  immediate  future,  as  he  was  provided 
for  by  his  owner,  but  it  does  not  wholly  explain  his 
inability  to  utilize  the  past  in  the  way  of  experience. 
The  want  of  this  power  is  perhaps  a  corollary  of  one  of 
his  most  conspicuous  mental  deficiencies,  namely,  an 
absence  of  logical  force.  He  has  no  turn  for  ratiocina 
tion,  the  temper  of  his  mind  being  repelled  by  whatever 
is  intricate  and  complex.  His  reasoning  faculty  is 
subordinate  to  his  imagination,  which  is  the  most  in 
fluential  of  all  the  faculties  of  his  mind,  operating  with 
an  ease  and  freedom  that  are  not  disclosed  in  the  play  of 
the  rest.  It  is  true  that  it  does  not  take  a  lofty  range, 
even  in  exceptional  flights,  but  this  is  due  to  his  general 
character.  It  is  exhibited,  in  its  lowest  phase,  in  the 
whole  bent  of  his  superstition,  in  which  it  assumes  the 
grossest  and  most  abject  form  of  credulity.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  observed  in  the  highest  in  a  few  poetical 
proverbs,  and  in  the  mass  of  his  folk-lore,  which  is 
voluminous  and  detailed,  reflecting  both  his  humor  and 
pathos.  In  this  folk-lore  the  supreme  importance  of  the 
personal  to  the  negro  is  again  obvious  ;  his  imagination 
here  does  not  impute  original  qualities  to  things,  or 
build  up  a  separate  system  of  its  own,  but  merely 
ascribes  ordinary  traits,  aspirations,  and  motives  in  the 
spirit  of  ancient  fable.  There  is  some  ingenuity  but 
little  delicacy  of  fancy  in  its  workings.  It  deals  with  its 
various  subjects  in  a  homely  way,  showing  at  every  step 
that  peculiar  tendency  to  moralize,  that  quickness  in 
detecting  analogies,  that  element  of  rude  common-sense 
and  shrewdness,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made 
as  distinctive  of  the  race. 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  153 

When  we  pass  out  of  this  special  domain  we  find  that 
the  imaginativeness  of  the  negro  is  only  that  of  mental 
immaturity.  It  is  the  exuberant  and  ill-regulated  fancy 
of  extreme  youth  ;  it  is  but  a  singular  intellectual  fer 
mentation  that  is  uncontrolled  because  his  powers  of 
reason  and  discrimination  are  as  weak  as  they  are  in 
children  of  a  tender  age.  The  man  of  ripe  years  has  all 
the  mental  floridness  of  a  boy  whose  faculties  have  not 
yet  reached  that  stage  of  development  when  the  imagina 
tion  is  submissive  to  the  judgment,  simply  because  the 
judgment,  as  yet,  is  lacking.  As  this  imaginativeness  is 
merely  a  characteristic  of  race  immaturity,  just  as  the 
imaginativeness  of  a  child  is  but  the  characteristic  of  in 
fancy  (although  this  quality,  as  observed  in  the  negro,  is 
probably  due  somewhat  to  his  tropical  origin),  it  will 
pass  away  if  he  shall  show  that  he  is  capable  of  moral 
and  mental  improvement  under  the  pressure  of  the  new 
influences.  It  has  been  predicted,  in  the  light  of  this 
imaginativeness,  that  the  negro  is  more  likely  to  become 
distinguished  in  the  future  as  a  painter,  poet,  or  orator 
than  as  a  man  of  ability  in  practical  affairs,  but  the 
probability  is  that,  if  it  is  possible  to  bring  the  race  to 
maturity — a  very  doubtful  hypothesis, — it  will  produce 
as  many  men  of  practical  as  of  artistic  talent,  because 
the  elevation  of  the  negro  will  destroy  his  imaginative 
ness  by  removing  his  immaturity.  His  only  chance  of 
mental  as  well  as  moral  elevation  lies  in  the  possibility 
that  a  race  is  able,  by  the  force  of  favorable  circum 
stances,  to  follow  the  same  law  of  growth  that  an  indi 
vidual  of  a  superior  nature  does.  If  this  is  so,  his 
imaginativeness  will  be  the  first  of  his  unfortunate 
qualities  to  disappear ;  at  present  it  is  like  a  cloud, 
enveloping,  confusing,  and  distorting  the  functions  of 
his  mind. 


154      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  results  of  this  immaturity 
is  that  the  negro  has  no  grasp  upon  abstract  ideas  ;  such 
ideas,  however  broad  and  generalized,  find  no  lodgment 
in  his  brain.  Whenever  a  subject  is  presented  to  him 
that  has  an  abstract  element,  the  latter  is  unconsciously 
ignored  as  being  unintelligible.  This  is  peculiarly  the 
case  in  his  religion.  All  terms  that  represent  certain 
conditions  of  heart  and  spirit  convey  no  meaning  what 
ever  to  his  mind  ;  and  similarly  with  precepts  that 
embody  general  rules  of  conduct,  or  brief  expressions 
that  sum  up  leading  articles  of  faith.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  the  negro,  while  clearly  understanding  the 
mission  of  Christ,  has  no  appreciation  at  all  of  those 
formulas  of  belief  and  behavior  which  He  enunciated  and 
upon  which  He  acted. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  mind  of  the  negro  grasps  with 
ease  whatever  is  presented  to  it  in  a  picturesque  way. 
Many  expressions  in  the  harangues  of  his  preachers  and 
political  orators  have  the  same  effect  upon  his  mental 
sensibilities  as  a  highly  stimulating  dram.  There  are 
certain  ideas  that  throw  him  into  a  state  of  uncontrolla 
ble  excitement.  The  sensuousness  of  his  nature,  in  fact, 
is  reflected  as  fully  in  the  character  of  his  intellect  as  in 
the  temper  of  his  body.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  very 
close  sympathy  between  his  mind  and  mere  sound.  It 
is  observed  that  he  is  very  much  disposed  to  sing  when 
ever  he  is  engaged  in  performing  an  arduous  task,  as  if 
he  finds  a  subtle  pleasure  in  the  echo  of  his  own  voice, 
which  sustains  and  invigorates  his  energies,  however 
exacting  the  strain  upon  his  physical  strength  and  en 
durance.  Any  continuous  sound,  from  whatever  it  may 
proceed,  seems  to  exert  the  same  influence  ;  thus,  the 
hand  shelling  corn  cannot  refrain  from  joining  in  with 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  15$ 

the  harsh  roll  of  the  instrument  that  he  is  manipulating, 
and  the  louder  grows  the  noise  which  it  makes  the  more 
fervent  and  resonant  are  the  tones  of  his  chant  ;  and  so 
with  the  laborers  who  are  standing  near  a  wheat-thresher, 
the  revolving  wheel  of  which  is  filling  the  air  with  its 
murmur.  In  the  same  way  the  notes  of  a  musical  instru 
ment,  however  rude,  cause  all  of  the  negroes  in  earshot 
to  strike  their  feet  against  the  floor  or  ground,  or  to 
beat  their  hands  together. 

This  sensuousness  of  intellect,  united  to  great  mental 
excitability,  is  revealed  under  a  variety  of  circumstances, 
and  of  the  general  characteristics  of  the  race  it  is  in  this 
connection  one  of  the  most  peculiar  and  distinctive.  It 
cannot  be  ascribed  to  that  immaturity  which  causes  the 
blacks  to  resemble  children  in  so  m^ny  of  their  moral 
and  mental  traits.  It  is  rather  a  turn  of  disposition  that 
is  indigenous  to  a  tropical  people,  being  as  much  a  funda 
mental  part  of  the  race  as  the  pigments  of  its  skin.  It 
is  largely  due  to  this  sensuousness  and  excitability  that 
the  negro  is  still  an  alien,  although  so  many  generations 
have  passed  away  since  he  was  transplanted  to  the 
American  continent  and  brought  under  influences  that 
were  calculated  to  modify  his  original  nature.  These 
two  qualities  have  done  much  to  prevent  him  from 
taking  a  respectable  position  in  history,  and  they  are  so 
deeply  ingrained  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  are 
any  means  in  reach  that  would  be  likely  to  remove  or 
even  repress  them.  His  mental  excitability  especially 
has  been  a  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of  his  progress, 
for  it  is  principally  from  this  trait  that  his  impulsiveness 
springs,  which  so  often  leads  him  to  overlook  what  is 
plainly  to  his  own  interest.  Above  all,  it  is  the  source 
of  his  vanity  which,  upon  the  slightest  provocation, 


156      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

assumes  so  many  absurd  or  dangerous  forms  ;  this  vanity 
being  a  species  of  intemperance  that  permeates  his  whole 
nature,  suppressing  in  him,  when  at  its  height,  all 
thought  except  with  respect  to  his  own  importance.  It 
is  peculiarly  conspicuous  in  individuals  of  the  race  who 
have  reached  positions  of  comparative  prominence, 
either  in  a  political  or  educational  way  ; — authority,  re 
sponsibility,  supposed  intellectual  attainments,  so  far 
from  sobering  them,  seem  to  turn  their  heads,  although 
they  generally  maintain  a  grave  and  dignified  bearing. 
The  possession  of  power  makes  them  harsh,  cruel,  and 
intolerant,  not  continuously  and  systematically,  but  ca 
priciously,  abruptly,  and  impulsively,  while  their  con 
sciousness  of  mental  culture,  so  far  from  acting  as  an 
incentive,  rather  increases  the  vigor  and  intensity  of  their 
egotism. 

The  deficiency  of  the  negro  in  original  capacity  is 
revealed  in  his  total  lack  of  any  turn  for  speculation. 
His  mind  is  never  quickened  and  invigorated  by  scepti 
cism  ;  he  seems  to  have  no  desire  to  penetrate  beyond 
what  is  merely  visible  ;  the  outer  surface  obstructs  his 
mental  as  well  as  his  ocular  vision.  His  intellect  falls  at 
once  into  confusion  as  soon  as  it  reaches  a  certain  point, 
or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  it  seems 
to  meet  with  a  barrier  in  its  effort  to  advance,  which  it 
cannot  scale.  It  is  owing  to  this  restriction  of  thought, 
accompanied  by  certain  grovelling  instincts,  that  the 
system  of  faith  that  distinguishes  the  race  wherever  it 
has  not  been  brought  under  the  influence  of  Christianity 
is  essentially  bald,  having  no  element  of  poetry  in  any  of 
its  various  phases.  This  inability  to  break  through  the 
wall  that  encloses  him  seems  to  increase  as  the  negro 
grows  older.  The  precocity  of  the  child  is  remarkable. 


MENTAL    CHARACTERISTICS.  157 

Its  mind  is  quick,  alert,  and  bright,  but  these  qualities 
are  very  much  modified  at  the  age  of  puberty.  That 
period  at  which  the  intellect  of  individuals  belonging  to 
other  races  grows  stronger,  firmer,  and  more  compre 
hensive,  is  distinguished  in  the  instance  of  such  a  child 
by  a  comparative  arrest  of  intellectual  progress.  The 
advance  after  that  is  not  at  all  in  proportion  to  what  had 
been  observed  to  take  place  previous  to  it.  The  mind 
now  becomes  sluggish,  narrow,  and  obtuse  in  many 
respects,  just  as  if  the  development  of  the  physical  frame 
absorbed  what  should  go  to  the  support  and  enlarge 
ment  of  the  brain.  It  is  possible  that  this  characteristic 
of  the  negro  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  belongs  to  one  of 
the  tropical  races,  the  individuals  of  which  always  ripen 
both  mentally  and  physically  much  earlier  than  the 
inhabitants  of  temperate  zones.  The  original  law  of 
growth  peculiar  to  the  race  has  not,  perhaps,  been  modi 
fied  in  the  American  descendants  of  African  ancestors, 
although  these  descendants  have  become  accustomed  to 
a  different  climate  and  condition.  This  cloudiness, 
which  sets  in  at  the  age  of  puberty,  is  not  removed  by 
the  force  of  experience  in  after  life  ;  although  the  negro 
of  advanced  years  has  passed  through  vicissitudes  that 
have  in  turn  inspired  him  with  grief,  sorrow,  pain,  and 
anger,  yet  the  perceptions  of  his  mind  remain  essentially 
as  they  were  before.  His  vision  is  not  more  unerring  on 
account  of  his  age,  nor  is  his  glance  more  penetrative. 
Indeed,  however  old  he  may  grow,  experience  rarely 
irradiates  his  past  with  its  light,  or  dispels  even  for  a 
little  way  the  shadows  that  darken  his  future. 

Lunatics  constitute  a  very  small  proportion  of  the 
whole  population  of  the  negroes.  The  causes  of  their 
mental  aberration  are  generally  wholly  physical,  the 


158       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

number  of  blacks  who  lose  their  wits  for  purely  moral 
reasons  being  very  insignificant,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  both  because  the  great  mass  are  laborers  who 
are  kept  very  closely  occupied,  and  because  they  are 
incapable  of  experiencing  a  great  mental  strain,  except 
in  the  form  of  fear  ;  and  it  is  only  under  the  influence  of 
superstition  that  they  can  be  said  to  suffer  from  fear 
even  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  for  it  to  have  a 
weakening  effect  upon  their  minds.  That  severe  stress, 
arising  from  settled  grief  or  prolonged  anxiety,  which  so 
often  disturbs  the  intellects  of  the  whites  is  unknown  to 
them.  They  are  naturally  light  hearted  and  easy  tem 
pered,  and,  therefore,  even  when  they  become  agitated, 
the  emotion  is  soon  thrown  off,  however  violent  while  it 
lasts.  Idiocy,  however,  is  as  often  observed  among  them 
as  among  the  whites. 

As  a  corollary  of  their  comparative  immunity  from 
insanity  for  moral  reasons,  it  is  found  that  the  blacks 
rarely  commit  suicide,  a  fact  that  is  easy  of  explanation 
when  a  full  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  race  has 
been  obtained.  In  the  first  place,  no  cause  of  anxiety 
presses  long  enough  upon  the  mind  of  the  individual 
negro  to  foster  a  desire  to  put  an  end  to  life,  this  being 
another  form  of  his  inability  to  retain  any  one  thought 
long  enough  to  influence  his  conduct  permanently  ; 
then,  too,  he  lacks  the  coolness  and  fortitude  to  destroy 
himself  ;  above  all,  he  has  a  peculiar  horror  of  death, 
owing  to  his  morbid  imagination,  and  not  improbably  to 
his  tendency  to  live  wholly  in  the  present.  His  nature 
is  impulsive  and  changeable.  All  his  mental  excite 
ments,  however  extreme  or  uncontrolled,  love,  hatred, 
despair,  sweep  through  the  caverns  of  his  brain  like 
gusts  of  wind,  and  almost  in  a  moment  are  gone  ;  hope 


MENTAL   CHARACTERISTICS.  159 

happiness,  and  serenity  soon  return,  and  he  thinks  and 
acts  as  if  such  transient  experiences  had  never  been  felt 
by  him,  much  less  had  left  a  lasting  impression. 

In  all  these  general  phases  of  his  mental  disposition, 
we  discover  again  that  likeness  to  a  child  that  confronts 
us  at  every  stage  of  our  inquiry,  and  at  every  point  of 
our  examination.  It  becomes  a  question  of  extreme 
interest  to  find  out  how  far  education  has  modified  the 
characteristics  of  the  race,  and  what  are  the  prospects, 
through  its  agency,  of  elevating  its  individuals  to  a  higher 
position  than  they  have  hitherto  occupied. 


XI. 

REMARKS   ON    PUBLIC   SCHOOL    SYSTEM. 

PERHAPS  it  is  too  early  to  form  a  just  notion  of  the 
part  that  the  public  school  system  will  play  in  the  future 
history  of  the  negro.  That  system,  however,  has  been 
established  long  enough  to  enable  us  to  draw  more  or 
less  accurate  conclusions  as  to  the  work  that  it  is  doing 
for  his  benefit,  and  upon  this  basis  some  idea  may  prob 
ably  be  obtained  of  the  relation  which  that  system  will 
bear  to  the  general  destinies  of  the  race.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  operation  of  the  colored  schools  is 
attended  with  a  considerable  number  of  practical  advan 
tages, — whether  any  impression  is  made  on  the  moral 
disposition  of  the  pupils  or  not.  These  advantages  are 
palpable  and  common-place.  To  have  been  taught  to/ 
read  and  write  with  respectable  skill  does  not  signify  a\ 
corresponding  enlightenment  of  conscience,  but  it  does 
mean  an  increased  capacity  for  self-protection,  and  to 
that  extent  is  unquestionably  valuable.  While  the  ele 
mentary  knowledge  imparted  to  the  young  negro  in  these 
schools  is  imperfect  and  defective — as  a  rule  not  enab 
ling  him  to  read  the  text  of  an  ordinary  book  at  a  glance, 
or  to  write  a  series  of  grammatical  and  correctly  spelled 
sentences — still  it  is  thorough  enough  to  be  useful  to  him 
on  the  whole.  An  ability  to  read  certainly  assists  him  in 
getting  a  more  exact  idea  of  the  agreements  into  which 
he  enters,  and  an  ability  to  sign  his  own  name  as  one  of 

1 60 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.     l6l 

the  contracting  parties  would  seem  likely  to  invest  these 
agreements  with  some  sacredness  in  his  eyes.  This  has 
been  found  to  be  the  case  in  some  instances,  but  it  is 
generally  admitted  that  the  individuals  who  have  been 
trained  in  the  public  schools  are  not  more  reliable  in 
adhering  to  their  engagements  than  those  who  belong  to 
preceding  generations.  Unfortunately  much  of  the  rudi 
mentary  scholarship  thus  acquired — whether  compara 
tively  thorough  in  the  beginning  or  not — is  lost  by  the 
former  pupil  in  the  years  that  follow  his  withdrawal.  He 
becomes  a  laborer  or  mechanic  at  once,  and  therefore  has 
little  time  for  reading  after  the  work  of  the  day  is  over, 
even  if  he  feels  the  inclination — which  he  does  not — and 
has  books  at  his  disposal.  But  he  has  no  books  ;  there 
is  not  even  a  Bible  in  his  cabin,  and  he  never  has  an 
opportunity  of  perusing  a  newspaper.  Year  by  year 
elapses  without  his  refreshing  his  learning,  and  in  time 
the  principal  part  of  it  is  obliterated  from  his  memory — 
just  as  a  fair  acquaintance  with  the  ancient  languages  is 
finally  lost  even  by  educated  men  after  they  become 
absorbed  in  the  affairs  of  active  life,  although  they  may 
remember  the  meaning  of  many  words  or  be  able  to 
translate  a  few  sentences.  His  ability  to  write,  however, 
serves,  in  some  measure,  to  prolong  his  knowledge  of 
reading,  for  the  young  negro  is  inclined  to  address  an 
occasional  letter  to  his  absent  friends.  The  information 
that  he  obtains  of  simple  arithmetical  calculation  in  the 
school-house  perhaps  lingers  with  him  permanently,  be 
cause  it  is  brought  into  more  use,  being  frequently  of 
benefit  to  his  interests.  Thus  it  may  prevent  him  from 
being  cheated  by  his  debtors  and  creditors  alike.  In 
assisting  him  to  understand  the  casting  of  his  accounts 
by  others  with  clearness,  it  removes  the  suspicion  on  his 


1 62       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  ASA   FREEMAN. 

part  of  unfair  dealing  ;  and  it  also  helps  him  to  keep  his 
own  affairs  in  proper  condition — probably  cultivating, 
to  some  degree,  a  spirit  of  ordinary  caution  and  pru 
dence  in  all  of  his  pecuniary  transactions.  The  only 
other  distinct  study  included  in  the  elementary  course  of 
the  schools  is  of  no  value  to  him  in  the  management  of 
his  private  business.  The  limitation  of  that  course  to 
primary  branches  is  eminently  wise,  and  care  should  be 
taken  that  this  course  should  not  extend  beyond  such 
branches.  All  endeavor  in  connection  with  it  should  be 
directed  towards  making  the  knowledge  imparted  as 
thorough  and  accurate  as  it  is  possible  to  be  made. 

Even  if  the  elementary  knowledge  which  the  negroes 
acquire  in  the  public  schools  were  useless  to  them  in 
after  life,  either  because  they  are  imperfectly  grounded 
or  because  what  they  learned  there  escapes  from  their 
memories,  yet  there  is  one  aspect  of  their  education  that 
may  partially  justify  the  expense  which  it  entails  upon 
the  state,  namely,  the  physical  restraint  which  it  enforces 
for  the  time  being,  which  would  seem  likely  to  be  bene 
ficial  to  all  of  the  pupils.     They  might  in  a  few  years 
become  oblivious  of  every  thing  that  they  were  taught, 
and  yet  a  profitable  influence  resulting  from  this  tempo 
rary  restraint  may  remain.     In  other  words,  if  education  j 
is  not  advantageous  to  them  in  a  literary  sense,  it  may  be\ 
useful  to  them  as  a  series  of  tasks,  both  at  the  time  that  j 
it  is  given  and  afterwards.     They  are  inherently  a  rest-  \ 
less  and  impulsive  people.     Now  that  the  strict  supervi-  | 
sion  of  slavery  has  been  withdrawn  they  are  left  to  act 
upon  their  natural  instincts,  which  tend  to  marked  re 
laxation  and  to  general  license.    The  true  object  of  their 
education  should  be  to  curb  these  instincts  by  the  em 
ployment  of  every  practicable  means.     The  mere  fact 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.      163 

that  the  student  is  compelled,  under  the  fear  of  punish 
ment,  to  perform  certain  duties,  whether  he  comprehends 
their  purpose  or  not,  is  perhaps  promotive  of  this  end. 
Forcing  him  to  concentrate  his  faculties  for  a  special 
intellectual  attainment  is  in  itself  a  form  of  discipline. 
It  is  the  spirit  of  the  training  that  is  desirable,  rather 
than  the  nature  or  amount  of  what  is  learned.  In  this 
light  the  work  of  the  school  system  in  its  relation  to  the 
young  negro  is  probably  valuable  as  far  as  it  goes  ;  but 
it  would  be  equally  as  valuable  in  this  sense  if  that  sys 
tem  only  required  him  to  come  to  the  school-house  at  a 
stated  hour  every  day  and  afterwards  attend  to  certain 
tasks  of  a  miscellaneous  character,  or  if  it  forced  him  to 
chop  so  much  wood  or  cultivate  so  much  land. 

Unfortunately,  the  young  negroes  who  have  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  the  public  schools  are  not  remarkable 
for  moral  steadiness  and  sobriety  ;  the  restrictions  to  which 
they  have  to  submit  in  the  school-house,  seeming  rather 
to  increase  their  licentiousness  as  soon  as  they  secure  th< 
right  to  govern  their  own  conduct,  as  if  the  reactioi 
carried  them  further  than  they  would  otherwise  hav< 
gone.  They  are  unusually  restless  as  laborers  and  unre-' 
liable  as  individuals.  In  consequence  of  their  lack  of 
self-control  and  their  unsettled  habits,  they  have  not 
accumulated  property  in  the  same  proportion  to  their 
numbers  as  the  freedmen  have  done  ; — and  above  all, 
they  show  a  disposition  to  adopt  the  lightest  employ 
ments  and  to  shirk  all  forms  of  exertion  that  compel  them 
to  put  forth  the  highest  energy,  f  While  these  tendencies  of 
the  younger  generation  seem  to~disprove  that  the  public 
schools  foster  a  better  spirit,  the  difficulty  lies  more  in  the 
character  of  the  personal  material  upon  which  these 
schools  have  to  work  than  in  the  character  of  the  schools 


164      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

themselves.  They  have  to  contend  with  the  same  obsta 
cle  that  confronts  every  large  institution  in  which  only 
literary  instruction  is  sought  to  be  imparted  to  the  negro  ; 
the  training  of  such  institutions  having  been  shown  in 
every  instance,  to  be  worthless  in  improving  the  material 
prospects  of  their  graduates,  unless  they  become  teach 
ers,  because  the  effect  upon  them,  of  a  considerable 
degree  of  literary  culture  is  to  put  them  out  of  conceit 
with  their  sphere  in  life  without  .strengthening  their 
faculties  enough  to  enable  them  to  rise  to  a  sphere  that 
is  higher.  The  course  of  the  public  school  of  the, 
country  district,  is  extended  enough  to  raise  the  ambition/ 
of  the  pupils,  but  at  the  same  time,  it  is  barely  probable  I 
that  it  can  ever  leave  such  a  general  impression  of  morals 
discipline  as  to  make  them  careful  and  prudent  in  all  the? 
practical  affairs  of  life.  In  fact,  there  is  no  substantial 
ground  for  believing  that  the  public  school  system  will  / 
have  an  important  influence  upon  the  material  condition 
of  the  negroes  until  it  has  been  assimilated,  as  closely  as 
possible,  to  that  type  of  normal  school  in  which  there  is 
a  union  of  manual  with  intellectual  training,  the  object 
of  the  industrial  education  being  rather  to  supplement 
and  enforce  the  mental,  than  to  teach  a  special  calling. 
It  would  not,  in  fact,  be  well  to  overstock  the  various 
trades.  There  is  but  a  limited  room  for  mechanics  and 
artisans  in  rural  districts  at  present  ;  the  great  body  of 
the  pupils  in  attendance  on  the  public  schools  can  only 
find  employment  as  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  therefore,  skill 
in  handiwork  will  be  of  no  real  value  to  them.  An  in 
dustrial  element  in  their  education,  however,  would  not 
only  assist  in  cultivating  a  spirit  of  steadiness,  but  it 
would  probably  have  the  effect  of  raising  the  dignity  of 
manual  labor  in  their  eyes.  It  has  been  found  that  the 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.     165 

primary  education  which  they  receive  in  the  public 
schools  has  a  tendency  to  cause  very  many  to  look  down 
on  all  forms  of  such  labor  with  contempt  ;  an  industrial! 
training  would  counteract  to  a  considerable  degree,  this? 
unfortunate  disposition,  if  stress  were  laid  on  it  as  of) 
equal  importance  with  mental  training,  or  if  it  were* 
brought  forward  as  even  of  higher  importance.  Several 
objections  can  be  urged  against  the  introduction  of  such 
an  element  into  the  public  school  system  ;  thus  for 
instance,  it  may  be  said,  and  with  sound  reason,  that  to 
maintain  that  system  even  in  its  present  condition,  and  ' 
with  its  present  purposes,  demands  a  heavy  rate  of  taxa 
tion.  The  first  aim  should  be  to  perfect  it  upon  the  same 
line  of  operation,  before  its  working  is  sought  to  be  com 
plicated  in  a  way  that  will  lead  to  greater  expense. 
Admitting  this,  and  admitting  also,  that  an  elementary 
education  will  to  some  degree,  be  useful  to  the  negro, 
apart  from  the  benefit  of  the  moral  and  mental  training 
which  may  attend  the  acquisition  of  a  small  amount  of 
knowledge,  it  does  not  follow  the  less  that  the  great  . 
object  of  the  public  schools  should  be  to  cultivate  so 
briety  and  industry  in  the  pupils,  and  it  is  of  no  funda 
mental  importance  how  this  spirit  is  raised,  provided  that 
it  is  made  permanent.  ^  Industrial  training  is  entirely  in 
accord  with  the  only  career  open  to  the  mass  of  the 
blacks. /Such  an  education  has  been  found  almost 
essential  even  in  the  higher  schools  for  the  preparation  of 
colored  teachers,  because  it  has  brought  the  most  power 
ful  influence  to  bear  to  foster  in  them  the  spirit  of 
discipline.  I  believe  that  the  future  will  show  that  no 
training  short  of  that  which  is  considered  to  be  necessary 
in  the  normal  institute  that  educates  its  students  with  a 
special  literary  and  industrial  object  in  view,  will  be  of 


1 66      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

lasting  benefit  to  the  negroes  in  the  public  schools,  as  far 
as  these  schools  are  supposed  to  equip  their  pupils  for 
making  their  way  in  life.  It  will  be  further  shown  by  the 
future  that  the  public  schools  will  advance  in  usefulness 
in  proportion  as  they  approximate  to  the  system  of  a 
normal  and  industrial  institute,  and  their  failure  to 
improve  the  material  condition  of  the  blacks,  will  be 
measured  by  their  departure  from  this  standard,  or  by 
their  inability  to  approach  it.  What  the  young  negro 
should  learn,  are  lessons  that  inculcate  repression  of  self 
as  well  as  submissiveness  to  legitimate  authority,  and 
steady  physical  application  ;  it  is  impossible  to  teach  him 
these  lessons  by  word  of  mouth,  because  he  is,  by  nature, 
a  creature  of  impulse,  and  therefore,  a  victim  of  his  own 
restless,  changeable,  and  thoughtless  disposition.  These 
lessons  can  only  be  imparted  to  him  even  temporarily  by 
the  exercise  of  an  authority  great  enough  to  control  and 
shape  his  actions.  Unless  the  public  schools  can  in 
some  practical  way  cultivate  this  spirit  of  sobriety  and 
these  habits  of  labor,  they  will  accomplish  nothing 
towards  the  material  elevation  of  the  negro.  If  they 
do  not  fit  him,  either  by  direct  training,  or  by  general 
influence,  for  the  battles  of  life,  then  their  practical 
usefulness  will  not  be  appreciable. 

As  organized  at  present,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
it  is  possible  to  organize  it  differently  under  the  special 
circumstances,  the  public  school  system  will  not,  in  my 
judgment,  work  a  substantial  improvement  in  the  moral 
condition  of  the  negroes,  by  which  I  mean  an  improve 
ment  in  their  sentiment  and  conduct  as  men  and  citizens 
in  all  of  the  relations  of  life.  In  other  words,  it  will  not 
elevate  the  general  tone  of  their  society.  Education  has  \ 
never  had  so  many  moral  obstacles  to  surmount  as  in 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.     l6/ 

a  teeming  community  of  blacks  ;  it  may  succeed  in  im 
parting  to  them  knowledge,  and  not  succeed  in  teaching 
them  morality,  owing  to  that  spirit  which  prevails  among 
the  masses  of  the  race  in  opposition  to  moral  reformation. 
This  spirit  is  singularly  hard  to  combat.  The  negroes* 
are  receptive,  sympathetic,  and  plastic,  but  these  quali-l 
ties  are  much  more  responsive  to  influences  that  emanate 
from  their  own  society  than  to  influences  that  emanate 
from  any  other  source.  That  impression  which  negroes, 
when  crowded  together,  make  on  each  other,  which  does 
so  much  to  destroy  the  force  of  ordinary  religious 
instruction,  has  a  tendency  to  keep  them  in  the  same  low 
and  degraded  state,  because  it  is  powerful  enough  to 
exclude  or  obliterate  all  other  impressions.  In  a  large 
community  of  the  race  the  principal  influences  are  at 
work  to  encourage  what  is  evil  and  to  repress  what  is 
good.  How  indifferent  the  tone  of  such  a  community  is 
to  what  is  wholesome  and  ennobling,  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  not  at  all  modified  by  the  best  public  sentiment 
prevailing  among  the  white  people  ;  the  character  and 
the  scope  of  this  public  sentiment  may  be  clearly  recog 
nized,  and  yet  the  negroes  will  either  ignore  it  in  their 
personal  intercourse,  or  they  will  openly  deny  its 
applicability  to  their  own  society.  No  people  have  more 
strongly-marked  qualities  than  they  have,  even  when 
brought  under  a  pressure  that  seems  calculated  to  change 
these  qualities  in  the  most  fundamental  way.  As-4 
sociation  with  each  other  only  tends  to  strengthen  these 
qualities,  and  in  consequence  of  this  fact,  every)  .  /  % 
considerable  community  of  negroes  stands  apart  to  itself,  *" 
being  controlled  by  influences  that  arise  in  it,  and  being 
little  affected  by  influences  that  spring  from  without. 
These  internal  influences  unfortunately  are  not  such  as  to 


1 68       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

support  the  public  school  in  the  effort  to  elevate  the  gen 
eral  condition  of  the  blacks  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  society 
of  such  a  community  is  only  too  often  distinguished  for 
all  those  characteristics  that  have  made  it  impossible  for 
missionaries  elsewhere  to  work  any  reform  in  the  race, 
these  characteristics,  however  vicious,  being  disclosed 
with  all  the  freedom  and  unconsciousness  of  nature. 

When  we  pass  from  the  community  to  the  individual 
child  we  find  equal  ground  for  discouragement,  if  for  no 
other  reason,  because  it  is  in  the  midst  of  such  influences 
as  these  that  the  first  impressions  are  made  on  his  dawn 
ing  and  expanding  intelligence,  so  soon  to  be  the  soil  in 
which  the  teacher  is  to  sow  the  seed  of  elementary 
knowledge.  In  that  susceptible  period  when  the  germs 
of  future  goodness  and  excellence  should  be  planted  in 
the  mind  of  the  child,  when  his  mother  should  teach  him, 
at  her  knee  lessons  of  veracity,  honesty,  and  self 
control ;  when  his  father  should  instil  into  him,  the 
spirit  of  courage,  manliness  and  strength, — how  is  he  being 
prepared  morally  for  the  literary  instruction  of  the 
school  ?  It  may  be  said  of  him,  as  with  too  much  truth 
of  the  older  members  of  his  family,  unfortunately  for 
them  all,  that  his  self  indulgence  is  only  restricted  by  his 
physical  capacity  and  his  opportunities.  The  discipline 
that  his  parents  seek  to  maintain  over  him  is  alternately 
loose  and  severe,  fluctuating  without  just  cause  from  the 
one  extreme  to  the  other,  and  often  lax  when  it  should  be 
harsh,  and  harsh  when  it  should  be  lax.  That  discipline 
when  it  is  carried  to  the  point  of  punishment,  is  not 
attended  by  those  gentle  exhortations  that  alone  make 
chastisement  reasonable  and  just.  It  too  often  assumes 
the  worse  form,  of  unscrupulous  power  and  brutal  tyran 
ny,  being  exercised  rather  for  the  temporary  convenience 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.      l6g 

of  the  parents  than  the  permanent  good  of  their 
offspring.  In  reality,  no  one  instructs  the  child  in  those 
moral  principles  that  he  ought  to  learn  before  he  enters 
school  ;  the  darkness  of  his  moral  ignorance  is  not  les 
sened,  in  anticipation  of  the  literary  training  that  he  is  to 
receive  ;  practically,  the  child,  in  that  period  which 
precedes  his  instruction  by  the  public  teacher,  is  entirely 
abandoned  to  the  influence  of  his  own  instincts,  unmodi 
fied  by  the  simplest  moral  training. 

Even  apart  from  the  working  of  all  these  hostile  in 
fluences,  whether  they  emanate  from  the  community  at 
large,  the  immediate  circle  in  which  he  moves,  or  his 
home,  his  native  temper  would  present  many  obstacles 
to  a  teacher.  He  has  those  characteristics  of  youth  that 
are  common  to  the  children  of  all  races,  in  addition  to 
certain  traits  that  belong  to  the  individuals  of  his  race 
alone.  His  mind  is  perhaps  quicker  and  brighter  than 
is  common,  but  these  qualities  are  associated  with  less 
frankness  and  ingenuousness  than  are  usual  in  the  dis 
position  of  the  young  ;  he  is  inclined  to  be  secretive  and 
sly,  and  to  that  extent  his  nature  is  less  open  to  the  in 
fluences  of  education  ;  he  has  the  restlessness  of  ordinary 
childhood  united  to  an  unusually  rash  turn  of  mind  ;  he 
is  more  intoxicated  by  the  fresh  emotions  of  youth  than 
the  white  child  ;  he  is  more  inconsequent  and  careless  ; 
impressions  on  his  mind  and  heart  are  obliterated  more 
rapidly ;  he  rebounds  from  the  pressure  of  authority 
with  a  larger  degree  of  reaction,  and  is  more  impulsive, 
changeable,  and  capricious.  Water  itself  is  not  more 
instable.  In  a  thousand  and  one  ways  he  discloses  his 
tropical  origin  ;  as  for  instance,  in  his  excitability,  the 
suddenness  of  his  transformations,  the  sunniness  and 
gayety  of  his  temper.  The  peculiar  idiosyncrasies  of  his 


I/O      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

race  are  constantly  revealed  in  his  conduct,  child  as  he 
is,  and  closely  as  he  resembles  other  children  in  those 
traits  that  belong  to  his  period  of  life,  irrespective  of 
blood,  color,  or  locality. 

Such  is  his  character  when  he  presents  himself  for  the 
first  time  at  the  threshold  of  the  public  school  that  has 
been  erected  for  the  country-side  in  which  he  lives.  For 
that  school  to  have  any  influence  upon  his  moral  devel 
opment,  it  must  take  the  place  of  his  parents  ;  but  the 
task  thus  assumed  would  be  one  of  the  most  difficult  to 
accomplish  that  could  be  imagined,  even  if  the  only  ob 
ject  of  the  school  was  to  give  an  ethical  and  not  a  liter 
ary  training.  Here  is  a  child,  remarkable  in  the  first 
instance,  for  certain  vigorous  traits  and  instincts  that  he 
has  inherited  from  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  who  approach 
nearer  to  barbarism  as  the  line  ascends,  until  finally  they 
are  savages  as  wretched  and  debased  as  have  ever  existed 
— savages  who  were,  in  fact,  as  nearly  allied  to  the  beasts 
of  the  field  as  to  any  human  type,  and  to  a  certain  extent 
sunk  even  below  animals,  by  their  superstitious  and  canni 
balistic  customs.  Here  is  a  child  born  of  a  race,  the  in 
dividuals  of  which  have  been  under  the  heel  of  stronger 
races  from  the  earliest  date  in  recorded  history,  and  who 
in  all  the  centuries  that  have  elapsed  since  the  first  annals 
were  written,  have  not  essentially  changed  in  those  quali 
ties  that  placed  them  at  the  mercy  of  the  resolute  and 
unscrupulous.  Here  is  a  child  who  has  spent  the  most 
susceptive  years  of  his  life  amid  surroundings  that  are 
calculated  to  implant  the  spirit  of  evil  in  his  nature, 
whether  it  was  there  before  or  not  by  inheritance  ;  a 
child  who  has  not  received  a  single  ethical  lesson  from 
parent  or  friend  to  prepare  his  mind  and  heart  for  other 
forms  of  culture.  The  first  thing  that  such  a  child  re- 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.      I /I 

quires  is  obvious  ;  he  should  be  taught  the  plainest  andt 
simplest  lessons  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  common) 
morality.  At  the  very  time  that  this  need  is  greatest, 
because  the  formative  period  of  his  life  is  fast  passing 
away,  he  obtains  only  lessons  in  elements  of  knowledge 
that  cultivate  his  mental  without  cultivating  his  moral 
disposition.  To  instruct  him  in  ethics  merely,  might 
well  tax  the  energies  of  the  most  maternal,  benevolent, 
and  sagacious  woman,  or.  the  wisest,  most  patient,  and 
most  persevering  man.  In  only  too  many  instances  he 
is  so  irreclaimable  in  spite  of  docility,  so  unalterable  in 
spite  of  gentleness,  as  to  render  all  efforts  useless,  how 
ever  wisely  directed  or  however  earnestly  and  continu 
ously  sustained.  Even  if  the  public  school  was  only  bent 
upon  his  moral  improvement,  there  would  be  the  same 
influence  to  contend  with  that  did  so  much,  as  has  been 
stated,  to  mould  his  character  in  the  years  that  preceded 
the  hour  when  he  was  placed  under  the  instruction  of  the 
teacher,  namely,  the  injurious  influence  which  the  society 
in  which  he  daily  moves  would  exercise  after  school  hours 
in  opposition  to  the  nourishing  influence  of  his  teacher. 
The  colored  pupil  returns  to  a  household  that  is  far  from 
being  careful  in  the  observance  of  the  ordinary  proprie 
ties  and  decencies  of  life  ;  it  is,  in  fact,  only  too  often 
wholly  oblivious  of  all  that  is  upright  and  beautiful  in 
any  of  the  personal  relations,  as  well  as  blind  to  every 
obligation  and  indifferent  to  every  responsibility.  This 
household  is  composed  of  his  own  flesh  and  blood- 
father,  mother,  brother,  and  sister, — who  naturally  would 
have  much  more  control  over  him  than  the  teacher,  with 
whom  he  is  thrown  only  during  a  brief  part  of  the  day. 
Even  if  the  members  of  his  family  were  very  respectable, 
he  would  probably  be  led  astray  by  the  example  of  the 


1/2       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

young  companions  with  whom  most  of  his  time  would  be 
spent,  or  by  the  spirit  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lives. 

Now,  the  public  school  system  does  not  seek  to  instructs 
the  young  negro  in  morals,  its  aim  being  to  teach  him  the) 
elements  of  literary  knowledge  only.  The  evils  which  ' 
an  ethical  education  of  the  pupil  would  have  to  overcome, 
namely,  those  arising  from  his  associations  outside  of  the 
school-room,  are  present  also  in  the  instance  of  a  mere 
secular  training  ;  in  fact,  the  influence  of  this  intercourse 
is  more  powerful  when  literary  instruction  alone  is  given, 
because  no  effort  is  made  in  the  school -room  to  combat 
it  specially.  As  the  scholar  advances  in  the  rudiments 
of  knowledge  he  does  not  acquire  the  rudiments  of  moral 
ity,  and,  therefore,  the  process  of  learning  is  attended 
with  serious  danger  to  the  pupil  if  carried  beyond  a  cer 
tain  point,  where  the  cultivation  of  his  intellectual  facul 
ties  will  only  enlarge  the  scope  of  his  uncultivated  moral 
faculties.  It  has  been  observed  in  the  higher  institutions 
for  negroes,  that  as  they  have  made  progress  in  mental 
culture,  they  have  been  inclined  to  think  that  the  ordi 
nary  rules  of  propriety  were  not  applicable  to  them.  In 
their  satisfaction  with  their  attainments,  they  have  been 
disposed  to  consider  morality  as  of  no  importance.  Their 
growth  in  character  has  not  been  in  proportion  to  their 
growth  in  mind,  and  this  too  when  they  have  been  com 
pelled  to  submit  to  the  severest  discipline,  tempered  by 
the  most  earnest  regard  for  their  welfare.  In  the  public 
schools,  in  general,  there  can  be  no  such  discipline  as 
this  exercised,  except  in  the  hours  of  recitation,  and  then 
the  attention  of  the  pupil  is  absorbed  in  his  ordinary 
studies.  That  moral  improvement  which  many  negroes 
show  under  close  supervision,  and  which  they  rarely 


REMARKS  ON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SYSTEM.      173 

show  under  other  circumstances,  is  not  observed  here, 
because  the  supervision  is  interrupted  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  day,  when  the  pupil  is  brought  under  evil  in 
fluences,  that  are  more  likely  to  impress  him  than  such  ex 
cellent  influences  as  may  emanate  from  the  school  itself. 
Not  until  the  public  school  for  the  blacks  becomes  as 
much  a  religious  as  a  literary  institution  ;  not  until  it  is 
directed  more  to  the  ethical  than  to  the  mental  training 
of  the  pupil  ;  not  until  it  is  bent  rather  upon  the  educa 
tion  of  his  instincts  than  the  cultivation  of  his  mental 
powers,  is  it  likely  to  create  in  him  the  slightest  inclina- 
tion  to  resist  the  force  of  the  evil  conditions  that  sur 
round  him.  It  cannot  be  reiterated  too  often  that  the 
negro  of  the  new  generation  should  be  trained,  if  possible, 
to  be  steady  and  sober,  not  only  for  his  own  sake,  but 
for  the  sake  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  The 
object  of  the  public  school  should  be  to  teach  him  to 
control  himself,  and  every  possible  means  should  be  em 
ployed  for  that  purpose.  It  is  not  enough  that  he  should 
learn  how  to  read  and  write  ;  it  is  far  more  important 
that  he  should  be  taught  to  be  honest,  temperate,  and  self- 
restrained.  It  is  probable  that  these  qualities  will  not  be 
imparted  to  him  to  a  considerable  degree  by  any  general 
system  of  education,  but  certainly  not  unless  the  reli 
gious  element  in  his  instruction  predominates  over  all 
others.  If  there  is  no  such  element,  then  the  true  basis 
upon  which  every  form  of  educational  discipline  should 
rest  will  be  lacking.  The  first  step  necessary  to  be  taken 
with  a  view  to  the  introduction  of  this  religious  element 
is  to  supply  them,  without  exception,  with  teachers  who 
have  passed  the  ordeal  of  normal  institutes,  in  which 
more  attention  is  paid  to  ethical  than  to  intellectual  train 
ing  ;  in  which,  in  fact,  the  mental  and  manual  education 


1/4      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

received  is  given  with  a  view  to  the  moral  effect  alone  ; 
men,  in  short,  who  have  been  selected  for  their  fitness 
for  a  special  moral  rather  than  a  special  intellectual  task  ; 
men  who  have  been  trained  to  be  missionaries.  To  raise 
this  spirit  even  in  the  most  respectable  negro  is  a  grave 
and  arduous  undertaking,  but  if  it  is  ever  possible  to  do 
so  in  the  highest  degree,  it  must  be  in  normal  and  indus 
trial  schools  in  which  the  character  of  the  pupil  is  sub 
jected  to  the  most  rigid  discipline.  If  this  spirit  can  be 
imparted  to  him  he  will  go  forth  with  a  well-defined  pur 
pose  to  Christianize  not  only  the  children  whom  he 
instructs,  but  also  their  parents,  crossing  weapons  with 
the  preachers  and  politicians  who  use  their  powerful  influ 
ence  to  increase  that  low  sentiment  among  their  people, 
on  which  they  thrive.  Probably  the  task  is  too  great  for 
the  capacity  of  the  negro,  for  it  is  a  task  demanding  the 
most  delicate  tact  and  judgment.  If,  however,  the  in 
creasing  army  of  teachers  were  all  graduates  of  normal 
institutes  that  first  seek  to  nourish  a  true  religious  feeling 
in  their  students,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  evils 
that  now  threaten  every  community  in  which  the  negroes 
predominate  would  be  diminished.  The  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  the  establishment  of  a  large  number  of  institu 
tions  of  this  kind  is  their  great  cost,  but  the  tendency  of 
any  improvement  in  the  public  school  system  is  towards 
their  erection,  for,  as  experience  makes  the  system  more 
useful  by  perfecting  its  methods,  as  public  sentiment  with 
respect  to  its  objects  grows  more  enlightened,  the  neces 
sity  of  having  such  institutions  will  become  more  obvious 
as  bearing  directly  on  the  moral  and  industrial  future  of 
the  negroes,  and  through  the  negroes,  upon  the  prosperity 
of  the  community  in  general. 


XII. 

THE  NEGRO  AS  AN   AGRICULTURAL   LABORER. 

IN  considering  the  negro  as  an  agricultural  laborer,  we 
view  him  in  that  phase  of  his  general  life  in  which  he 
appears  in  the  most  familiar  light.  The  vast  majority  of 
those  who  till  the  soil  and  prepare  the  crops  for  market 
belong  to  his  race ;  and  their  number  alone  would  invest 
them  with  remarkable  interest,  whether  we  regarded  the 
character  of  their  work  or  not.  The  great  amount  and 
inestimable  value  of  that  work  raise  them  in  the  present 
age  to  a  position  of  the  highest  economic  importance. 
In  every  community  in  which  they  constitute  even  the 
smaller  proportion  of  the  inhabitants,  they  form  the  prin 
cipal  part  of  the  laboring  population,  for  the  reason  that 
all  negroes,  with  very  few  exceptions,  are  included  in  this 
general  class  ;  those  individuals  among  them  who  follow 
a  profession  or  mechanical  trade  sinking  into  insignifi 
cance  amid  the  swarm  of  their  people  who  earn  their 
bread  by  various  manual  tasks. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  agricultural  laborer  who  ex 
celled  the  negro  as  such  when  he  was  a  slave.  Docile, 
obedient,  cheerful,  unresentful,  of  remarkable  strength 
and  unusual  powers  of  endurance,  he  lacked  no  quality 
which  a  tiller  of  the  soil  should  have,  except  that  it  was 
more  or  less  necessary  that  he  should  always  be  carefully 
overlooked  ;  but  under  such  supervision,  which  com 
pelled  him  within  proper  limits  to  put  forth  his  highest 

i75 


THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

physical  capacity,  he  had  few,  if  any,  deficiencies.  Apart 
from  this  supervision,  he  was  inclined  to  allow  both  his 
attention  and  energy  to  relax  ;  but  this  might  have  been 
expected,  as  he  was  without  any  real  incentive  to  work. 
This  discipline  to  which  he  was  rigidly  subjected,  left  a 
deep  and  abiding  impression  on  his  character  ;  it  culti 
vated  in  him  a  spirit  of  industry,  which  he  disclosed  at 
once  as  soon  as  he  was  properly  directed  ;  and  it  less 
ened  his  native  tendency  to  indolence,  even  when  he  was 
aware  that  he  could  be  idle  without  risk  of  rebuke  or 
punishment.  Emancipation  was  followed  by  far  less  dis 
organization  of  labor  than  would  have  been  anticipated, 
simply  because  those  habits  of  industry  which  slavery 
had  created  came  to  the  aid  of  the  freedmen  when  they 
found  that  they  had  to  work  or  starve.  It  is  improbable, 
however,  that  these  general  habits  would  have  stimulated 
them  to  exertion  at  all,  if  they  could  have  secured  a  live 
lihood  as  easily  as  their  fellows  in  the  tropical  islands  of 
Hayti  and  Jamaica  secured  it ;  but  being  forced  by  local 
circumstances  to  earn,  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows,  the 
bread  with  which  they  supported  life — a  fate  that  was 
most  fortunate  for  themselves  as  well  as  for  the  commu 
nity  in  which  they  dwelt, — these  habits  of  industry,  which 
had  been  formed  under  conditions  that  had  passed  away 
forever,  arose  in  good  stead,  to  assist  them  in  adjusting 
themselves  to  the  new  economic  relations  which  they 
bore  to  their  former  masters,  as  well  as  to  the  land  itself, 
which  they  had  been  cultivating  for  so  many  years  as 
slaves. 

The  first  effect  of  emancipation  upon  many  individu 
als  of  the  race  was  to  inspire  them  with  a  desire  to  aban 
don  the  scenes  that  had  been  familiar  to  them  as  slaves, 
and  they  promptly  acted  upon  this  impulse  ;  separated 


THE  NEGRO  AS  AN  A GRICUL TURAL  LABORER.      I // 

from  their  former  homes  by  their  own  determination, 
they  obtained  employment  elsewhere — in  many  instances 
in  distant  parts,  of  which  they  had  no  previous  knowl 
edge.  Some  even  doubted  whether  they  had  been  really 
liberated  until  they  had  tested  their  ability  to  leave  the 
old  localities  without  opposition  from  their  former  own 
ers.  Even  if  they  were  confident  that  they  could  do  so 
just  then,  they  anticipated  that  their  present  liberty  would 
be  curtailed  so  much  in  the  future  that  they  would  prac 
tically  be  reduced  to  their  original  condition  again.  An 
emotion  of  fear,  therefore,  urged  them  to  depart.  Fidel 
ity,  timidity,  or  sound  judgment  induced  a  few  to  remain 
permanently  where  they  had  always  lived,  but  the  vast 
majority  of  negroes  changed  their  habitations  either  im 
mediately  or  in  the  course  of  the  first  years  after  they 
were  set  free.  Many  of  the  largest  plantations  were 
almost  depopulated  of  their  former  laborers,  the  places 
they  vacated  being  filled  by  those  who  had  immigrated 
from  other  sections  or  had  come  in  from  the  same  coun 
try-side. 

At  present,  the  laborers  are  not  inclined  to  emigrate  to 
a  great  distance  by  the  mere  force  of  a  migratory 
instinct ;  a  few  do  so  under  the  terms  of  temporary  con 
tracts  into  which  they  have  been  tempted  to  enter  by  the 
solicitations  of  agents,  but  a  large  number  are  rarely 
influenced  to  remove  in  a  body  to  far  off  States  in  the 
mere  hope  of  improving  their  condition.  Within  the 
circle  of  an  extensive  division  of  country,  however,  they 
are  constantly  shifting  ;  they  will  rent  land  for  one  year 
and  set  up  on  their  own  account  as  mechanics  the  next, 
or  they  will  work  for  one  planter  a  month  and  labor  in 
the  employment  of  another  for  twelve  months,  or  attach 
themselves  to  the  same  plantation  for  many  years,  and 


THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

then  suddenly  announce  their  intention  to  leave.  The 
fact  that  the  laborers  of  each  community  are  changing  so 
often,  introduces  an  element  of  instability  into  their 
social  life,  which  encourages  immorality  and  a  disregard 
of  obligations  among  them,  for  when  they  desert  one 
community  for  another,  their  connection  with  the  first 
ceases  in  every  way  ;  they  are  disposed  to  ignore  their 
debts  and  not  infrequently  their  marriages,  too,  if  they 
leave  their  wives  behind  ;  in  other  words,  they  start  anew 
as  if  they  were  untrammeled,  and  their  ability  to  do  so,  is  a 
strong  inducement  to  them  to  rid  themselves  of  their  bur 
dens  in  one  locality  by  settling  in  another  at  a  distance. 

This  restlessness  is  the  only  ungovernable  fault  of  most 
of  the  laborers  who  were  trained  under  the  strict  and 
regular  discipline  of  slavery.  Apart  from  this  unfortu 
nate  trait,  which  can  be  somewhat  restrained  by  skilful 
management,  the  majority  of  the  freedmen  constitute  a 
force  of  working  men  that  cannot  be  surpassed  in  effi 
ciency.  Their  submissiveness  to  authority  still  survives, 
and  they  still  retain  their  habits  of  industry.  On  the 
whole,  they  are  steady,  docile  and  active  ;  but  the  display 
of  these  excellent  qualities  is,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
dependent  upon  various  conditions.  In  the  first  place, 
they  appear  to  most  advantage  on  extensive  plantations, 
for  there,  they  are  happier  and  more  contented,  on 
account  of  the  continual  gratification  which  the  society 
of  so  many  individuals  of  their  race  affords  them.  Some 
of  these  plantations  include  several  thousand  acres  in  one 
body,  and  it  requires  many  laborers  to  cultivate  their 
soil.  These  with  their  families  occupy  the  quarters  in 
which  the  former  slaves  dwelt.  Although  they  can 
obtain  the  permission  of  their  employers  to  visit  any  part 
of  the  country,  although  they  can  rove  as  much  and  as 


THE  NEGRO  AS  AN  A GRlCUL  tVRA L  LABORER.      1 79 

far  as  they  like,  after  the  work  of  the  day  is  over,  or  on 
the  occasion  of  a  holiday,  the  principal  portion  of  their 
lives  during  the  period  of  their  connection  with  a  planta 
tion,  is  spent  there.  Each  of  these  large  plantations  is 
almost  as  distinct  a  community  under  the  new  system  as 
it  was  under  the  old,  in  spite  of  its  being  in  much  more 
direct  communication  with  the  surrounding  country  than 
it  formerly  was,  and  in  spite  of  the  frequent  mutations  in 
its  population.  Its  inhabitants,  in  an  extreme  emergency, 
could  supply  themselves  by  their  own  skill  and  ingenuity, 
with  every  thing  that  they  now  purchase  from  abroad, 
and  if  withdrawn  from  all  other  society,  the  company  of 
each  other  would  satisfy  their  love  of  companionship. 

Such  local  influences  as  these  unite  to  diminish  the 
restlessness  of  the  freedmen  by  attaching  them  more 
firmly  to  the  soil  ;  and  to  that  extent,  these  influences 
lead  them  to  be  steady  and  industrious,  as  their  minds 
are  not  diverted  or  their  energies  relaxed  by  the  constant 
prospect  of  a  change.  They  are  also  incited  to  exert 
themselves  by  having  many  associates  as  they  perform 
their  tasks  in  the  fields  or  manipulate  the  crops  in  the 
barns  ;  an  ability  to  converse  and  make  merry  as  they 
work,  operating  as  a  spur. 

An  uninterrupted  superintendence,  however,  is  neces 
sary  to  their  activity.  A  gang  of  men  who  will  labor 
with  the  most  cheerful  and  unremitting  industry  under 
the  eye  of  a  firm  and  watchful  overseer,  without  requir 
ing  a  word  from  him  to  urge  them  on,  will,  if  he  with 
draws,  begin  at  once  to  lag,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
in  a  half  hour  they  will  be  leaning  on  their  hoes  while 
they  engage  in  lively  conversation  ;  or,  if  they  continue 
to  work,  the  effort  will  be  irregular  and  languishing.1  It 
1  This  is  true  of  the  laborers  irrespective  of  age. 


180      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  traits  of  the  field  hand, 
as  of  the  house  servant,  that  he  does  not  openly  rebel 
against  the  strictest  supervision,  although  it  is  opposed 
to  every  instinct  of  his  nature  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  re 
sponds  to  it  as  readily,  apparently,  as  if  he  admitted  its 
necessity,  and  was  glad  to  be  sustained  against  the  im 
pulses  of  his  own  weakness.  It  is  absolutely  essential, 
however,  that  the  spirit  of  this  supervision  should  not 
only  be  constant  and  resolute,  but  also  just  and  thought 
ful.  If  the  employer  or  his  overseer  is  harsh  and  indis- 
criminating  in  his  discipline,  taxing  the  energies  of  the 
freedman  to  a  point  that  shows  a  lack  of  proper  regard 
for  him,  the  latter  is  disposed  to  resent  it  by  leaving.  The 
recognition  of  the  quality  of  honesty  in  the  character  of 
the  employer,  the  certainty  that  he  will  act  with  fairness 
in  all  the  various  transactions  that  may  arise  between 
them,  a  consistent  adherence  to  his  promises,  prompt 
payment  of  whatever  can  be  claimed  as  due, — all  these 
things  unite  to  make  the  negro,  whether  trained  under 
the  old  or  new  system,  more  industrious  and  less  unre 
liable  as  a  laborer.  And  what  is  equally  promotive  of 
this  end  is  an  inclination  on  the  part  of  the  employer  to 
favor  his  laborer  whenever  circumstances  allow  him  to 
do  so  without  affecting  the  proper  management  of  the 
estate.  Thus  granting  all  reasonable  privileges  that  will 
increase  the  comfort  of  the  laborer,  such  as  permitting 
him  to  fatten  several  hogs,  to  cultivate  patches  of  ground, 
not  only  in  vegetables  but  in  corn,  keeping  him  supplied 
with  wood,  advancing  small  amounts  of  money  occasion 
ally  during  the  course  of  a  holiday,  or  perhaps  giving 
provisions  when  he  celebrates  an  important  entertain 
ment.  In  short,  there  are  many  acts  of  kindness  which 
the  planter  can  do,  within  restricted  limits,  without  injury 


THE  NEGRO  AS  AN  A GRICUL TURAL  LABORER.      1 8 1 

to  himself,  that  will  go  far  to  make  his  employes, 
whether  old  or  young,  contented,  and  thus  increase  their 
usefulness  as  laborers  by  repressing  their  love  of  change. 

It  is  characteristic,  however,  even  of  the  most  respecta 
ble  negroes,  who  were  trained  under  the  regime  of 
slavery,  that  they  will  disregard  a  contract  if  it  conflicts 
with  their  interest  or  caprice.  They  seem  to  be  entirely 
oblivious  of  the  binding  force  of  an  agreement,  as  if  it 
had  no  well-defined  meaning  to  their  minds,  not  even 
when  it  is  considered  in  the  light  of  an  ordinary  promise 
that  passes  in  conversation.  In  consequence  of  this 
indifference  to  a  contract,  there  is  no  way  whatever  of 
retaining  them  if  the  plantation  with  which  they  are  tem 
porarily  connected  is  situated  near  a  convenient  means 
of  transportation,  such  as  a  railroad.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  they  often  suddenly  move  to  a  distance, 
being  led  by  mere  impulse  or  the  prospect  of  higher 
wages  to  abandon  their  present  employer,  without  even 
informing  him  of  their  intention 

The  laborer  who  has  grown  up  amid  the  influences 
that  have  prevailed  in  the  society  of  the  negroes  since 
the  late  war,  is  inferior  in  steadiness,  even  under  super 
vision,  to  the  laborer  who  was  once  habituated  to  the 
restraints  of  slavery.  This  is  not  surprising  when  it  is 
recalled  that  he  has  practically  been  his  own  master  from 
the  time  of  his  childhood,  not  having  been  subjected  to 
any  rules  of  conduct  that  were  likely  to  make  an  impres 
sion  on  his  character.  As  he  has  never  been  systemati 
cally  taught  to  submit  to  discipline,  he  is  very  much 
disposed  to  chafe  against  the  authority  of  his  employer, 
not  in  a  rebellious  spirit  while  it  lasts,  but  with  a  desire 
to  bring  it  to  an  end  as  restricting  his  independence  ; 
and  therefore  he  cannot  be  confidently  relied  upon  to 


1 82      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

remain  for  any  length  of  time  in  the  service  of  any  one 
person.  He  shows  a  hearty  dislike  of  being  bound  down 
to  one  spot,  even  when  he  is  aware  that  it  is  advantage 
ous  to  his  interests  that  he  should  be  ;  his  feeling  in  this 
respect  being  so  well  known  that  the  planter  for  whom 
he  may  be  working,  at  any  season  of  the  year,  is  careful, 
as  a  rule,  to  refuse  him  credit  unless  he  has  a  family, 
which  hampers  his  general  freedom  of  movement.  His 
natural  impulse  is  to  earn  his  livelihood  by  light  jobs 
that  do  not  encroach  much  upon  his  time  or  tax  his 
strength  too  heavily.  If  the  exacting  character  of  his 
situation  only  permitted  it,  he  would  not  exert  himself  at 
all  ;  but  it  is  absolutely  essential  that  he  should,  to  ob 
tain  the  ordinary  necessaries  of  life.  He  shirks  the  task 
which  nature  imposes  just  as  far  as  nature  itself  will  al 
low.  He  strives  to  ease  the  burden  which  it  places  on 
his  shoulders,  not  only  by  following  the  least  arduous 
employments,  but  also  by  wandering  in  a  restless  spirit 
from  neighborhood  to  neighborhood  and  county  to 
county,  passing  a  month  or  two  in  one  locality,  perhaps, 
and  moving  quite  rapidly,  from  point  to  point,  during 
the  remainder  of  the  year.  The  planters  complain  that 
he  is  disposed  to  stay  with  them  as  long  as  the  weather 
is  cold  and  the  country  closed  by  frost,  but  that  he  will 
leave  as  soon  as  spring  has  fairly  opened,  when  his  ser 
vices  are  indispensable. 

As  laborers,  the  members  of  the  new  generation  are 
very  inexpert  in  many  important  respects,  because  their 
employers  cannot  enforce  the  degree  of  discipline  neces 
sary  to  instruct  them  ;  but  even  if  their  employers  could 
do  so,  these  young  men  rarely  remain  long  enough  under 
the  supervision  of  any  one  planter  to  allow  him  sufficient 
time  to  teach  them  to  the  required  extent.  Thus,  in  all 


THE  NEGRO  AS  AN  AGRICULTURAL  LABORER.      183 

those  counties  of  the  tobacco  region  of  Virginia,  in  which 
the  crop  is  cultivated  and  prepared  for  market  entirely 
by  negroes,  there  has  been  a  notable  decline  in  the  qual 
ity  of  the  staple  as  well  as  in  the  character  of  its  manipu 
lation,  now  that  the  majority  of  the  hands  who  were 
trained  for  many  years  under  the  eye  of  their  master  or 
his  overseer,  are  fast  dying  off.  This  is  a  crop  that  de 
mands  unusually  careful  management  to  put  it  in  the 
proper  condition  for  sale,  and  any  lack  of  skill  or  knowl 
edge  in  those  who  have  charge  of  it  is  plainly  revealed  in 
its  final  state,  when  it  is  exposed  to  the  purchaser  in  the 
warehouse  or  on  exchange.  The  deficiencies  of  the  la 
borer  in  connection  with  this  staple  cannot  be  supplied 
by  the  prudence  and  watchfulness  of  the  employer,  as  it 
is  possible  for  him  to  do  in  the  instance  of  the  cultivation 
of  such  cereals  as  corn  and  wheat.  Here  much  depends 
upon  the  preparation  of  the  soil  and  its  cleansing  after 
the  seed  has  sprung  up  above  ground  ;  but  the  grain, 
when  it  has  matured,  needs  no  extended  manipulation, 
Tobacco,  on  the  other  hand,  requires  the  most  thorough 
information  and  the  most  discriminating  skill  from  the 
hour  that  the  plant  expands  in  the  patch  to  the  moment 
that  the  leaf  is  prized  in  the  hogshead.  Under  the  old 
system  each  plantation  had  its  circle  of  slaves  who  were 
carefully  educated  from  childhood  to  do  general  or  spe 
cial  work,  and  the  individuals  of  that  circle  attained  to 
much  expertness  in  the  various  tasks  of  the  barns  and 
fields  ;  but  under  the  present  system  this  is  impossible, 
and  the  result  is  that  the  labor  of  the  new  regime  is  gen 
erally  inferior  in  character. 

This  decline  in  the  expertness  of  the  negro  as  a  la 
borer  will  undoubtedly  affect  his  condition  profoundly. 
It  has  already  been  injurious  to  his  interests.  Many  in- 


1 84      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

stances  can  be  mentioned  of  the  greatness  of  the  obstacle 
which  his  lack  of  care,  foresight,  and  discernment  places 
in  the  path  of  his  material  progress.  One  may  be  cited 
as  a  fair  example  of  the  rest.  In  certain  parts  of  South 
ern  Virginia,  where  the  celebrated  variety  of  tobacco 
known  as  yellow  tobacco  is  produced,  a  plan  for  curing 
it  in  the  barn  has  been  adopted,  which  requires  incessant 
alertness  and  watchfulness  to  prevent  the  dry  leaf  from 
being  exposed  to  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  that 
would  either  injure  or  destroy  it  in  a  short  time.  To 
conduct  the  process  of  curing  properly,  demands  not 
only  experience,  but  also  close  attention  and  excellent 
judgment.  It  has  been  generally  found  that  the  negroes 
cannot  be  safely  trusted  with  the  exclusive  supervision 
of  the  barns  under  these  critical  circumstances.  Their 
minds  are  too  apt  to  wander  from  the  duty  in  hand  ; 
they  unwittingly  forget  to  observe  the  thermometer  with 
a  view  to  keeping  the  temperature  at  the  proper  rate  ; 
above  all,  they  have  a  marked  disposition  to  doze  and 
sleep,  and  during  the  time  of  their  drowsiness  or  slum 
ber  the  fires  in  the  barn  either  decline  or  grow  into  too 
fierce  a  flame.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  of  all  the  laborers 
with  much  more  truth  than  of  the  house  servants,  that 
they  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  perform  any  task,  which 
would  be  either  dangerous  or  fatal  to  themselves  or  to 
the  interests  of  their  employer,  if  they  showed  that  they 
were  lacking  in  vigilance,  prudence,  or  self-possession. 
It  is  due,  in  some  measure,  to  the  increasing  defects  of 
the  field  hands,  as  well  as  to  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  a 
strict  authority  over  them,  that  there  is  a  growing  ten 
dency  towards  the  division  of  the  great  plantations  into 
small  plantations,  that  can  be  cultivated  by  the  owners 
with  the  assistance  of  a  few  men  who  will  be  compelled 


THE  NEGRO  AS  AN  A GRICUL TURA L  LABORER.      1 8 5 

to  work  under  their  immediate  direction.  Much  more 
powerful  influences  than  this  are  operating  to  break  up 
the  original  system  with  its  single  estates,  including 
many  thousand  acres,  and  its  large  gangs  of  laborers. 
The  cc  nplete  disruption  of  this  system  will  have  a  very 
injurious,  if  not  fatal,  effect  on  the  interests  of  the  mass 
of  negroes,  as  it  will  throw  the  tillage  of  the  soil  for  the 
most  part  into  the  hands  of  white  men,  who  are  members 
of  the  proprietors'  families.  At  the  best,  it  will  deprive 
the  blacks  of  many  opportunities  of  accumulating  sums 
with  which  to  purchase  small  tracts  of  land  for  them 
selves  ;  in  most  instances  those  who  have  laid  by  money 
enough  to  buy  such  tracts  have  been  able  to  do  so  by 
their  connection  with  the  owners  of  large  estates.  The 
disruption  of  the  system  of  great  plantations  will  force 
the  negroes  back  upon  the  barren,  inaccessible,  and 
sparsely-settled  ridges.1  Those  who  inhabit  these  ridges 
have  always  lived  in  a  meaner  way  than  the  laborers  who 
are  employed  in  the  low  lands,  because  their  ability  to 
earn  a  livelihood  is  much  more  precarious.  In  conse 
quence  of  their  extreme  narrowness  of  fortune  the  rate  of 
mortality  is  much  higher  among  them,  their  food  being 
scantier  and  less  nutritious,  and  the  medical  attendance 
which  they  receive  when  sick,  if  they  receive  any  at  all, 
being  of  an  unskilled  character.  On  the  whole,  however, 
the  breaking  up  of  the  old  plantation  system  has  not  yet 
reached  such  a  point  as  to  produce  much  alteration  in  the 
life  of  the  laborers.  The  country  is  still  held  in  tracts  of 
considerable  extent,  not  so  much  from  any  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  proprietors  to  retain  their  land  in  this  form, 

1  In  the  end  the  disruption  of  the  system  of  large  plantations  will 
probably  have  the  effect  of  excluding  the  masses  of  the  negroes  from 
the  soil  altogether. 


1 86      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

as  from  their  inability  to  sell  it.  As  renting  has  been 
found  to  be  unprofitable,  the  inclination  of  the  planters 
in  general  is  to  cultivate  their  own  soil,  and  to  do  so  they 
are  compelled  to  rely  upon  the  mass  of  negroes  for  labor, 
the  negroes  in  turn  being  forced  by  the  spur  of  poverty 
to  work,  whether  naturally  disposed  to  do  so  or  not. 
They  may  shift  uneasily  from  one  locality  to  another, 
and  change  their  employers  every  year,  or  even  every 
month,  according  to  interest  or  caprice,  but  the  con 
straint  that  they  are  under  to  earn  a  subsistence  remains 
wherever  they  may  be,  and  this  necessity  is  advan 
tageous  to  the  country  in  which  they  dwell.  If  they 
could  live  without  toil,  and  yet  continue  to  increase,  they 
would  soon  destroy  the  prospects  of  every  community  of 
which  they  formed  the  principal  part. 

The  large  planters  prefer  to  make  up  their  comple 
ment  of  hands  by  employing  negroes  alone.  Long  inter 
course  with  the  blacks  in  this  character  have  accustomed 
their  former  owners  to  consider  them  only  in  the  light 
of  a  population  that  is  adapted  by  their  physical  quali 
ties  to  the  tasks  of  the  fields.  Tradition  also  has  a 
powerful  influence  in  producing  this  state  of  mind  in 
the  leading  planters  ;  then,  too,  association  has  thor 
oughly  familiarized  them  with  the  African  temperament, 
which  enables  them  to  manage  their  colored  laborers 
with  comparative  facility.  But  their  preference  in  this 
respect  is  chiefly  ascribable  to  the  perfect  contentment 
of  the  negroes  under  circumstances  that  excite  in  white 
laborers  the  profoundest  dissatisfaction.  The  difference 
between  the  white  and  the  black  employes  on  the  same 
plantation  is  very  much  in  favor  of  the  latter  in  the  point 
of  cheerfulness.  While  the  negro  will  go  to  bed  con 
tentedly  when  he  can  see  the  sky  through  a  hole  in  the 


THE  NEGRO  AS  AN  A GRICUL TURAL  LABORER.      1 8/ 

roof,  and  eat  his  dinner  from  a  tin  bucket  when  sitting 
on  a  clod,  the  white  laborer  is  captious  and  resentful, 
complains  of  his  wages,  his  quarters,  and  indeed  of  every 
condition  under  which  he  lives.  Nearly  all  of  the  lat- 
ter's  serious  faults  as  a  laborer  proceed  from  pride  and 
a  desire  for  a  better  position,  and  all  the  merits  of  the 
negro  from  a  total  absence  of  either. 

It  is  observed  that  the  white  men  who  are  employed  on 
plantations  that  are  thickly  inhabited  by  negroes  are 
always  restless  and  uneasy  if  their  duties  bring  them  into 
contact  with  the  other  race  ;  necessity  may  force  them  to 
work  side  by  side  with  the  blacks  in  the  fields,  but  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  they  will  only  do  so  as  long  as  they 
cannot  avoid  it.  The  degradation  of  the  association  as 
well  as  the  meanness  of  their  condition  are  not  forgotten 
for  a  moment,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  they  will 
break  through  their  contracts  before  these  have  expired. 
They  do  not  show  this  disquietude  if  they  are  carpenters 
or  mechanics,  or  if  their  tasks  do  not  compelled  them  to 
be  thrown  with  the  blacks  on  a  footing  of  equality.  It  is 
due  to  this  feeling  that  white  labor  is  slow  to  compete 
directly,  and  in  the  same  field,  with  negro  labor.  In  a 
certain  sense,  the  abolition  of  slavery  emancipated  the 
lower  white  classes  as  much  as  it  did  the  black,  for  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  raised  the  dignity  of  manual 
work — but  prejudices  of  race  still  survive.  We  see  as 
strong  an  inclination  in  the  two  peoples  to  separate  in 
the  tobacco  lot  as  in  the  various  walks  of  society  ;  a 
common  poverty  and  a  common  necessity  to  win  bread, 
it  would  be  supposed,  would  break  down  the  barriers  of 
sentiment  in  the  fields  and  barns,  but  it  does  not.  This 
sentiment  is  not  observed  where  the  land  is  held  in  small 
tracts  that  are  cultivated  by  their  white  owners  with  the 


1 88       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

assistance  of  a  few  negroes  ;  whites  and  blacks  here  toil 
together  in  the  closest  contact,  but  their  relation  is  not 
one  of  equality,  as  they  do  not  meet  as  the  laborers  of 
one  proprietor,  but  as  employers  and  employe's. 

It  is  plain  that  in  the  general  conflict  between  whites 
and  blacks  as  laborers,  the  negro  enjoys  the  chief  advan 
tages.  He  is  physically  as  vigorous  and  stanch  as  the 
white  man  ;  and  is  more  cheerful  and  more  easily  man 
aged  ;  he  lives  in  happiness  under  material  conditions 
that  would  be  intolerable  to  the  humblest  white  laborer  : 
and  has  no  sentiment  or  pride  that  will  prevent  him  from 
seeking  any  kind  of  employment,  however  disagreeable 
that  employment  may  be  to  ordinary  sensibilities,  or  in 
what  degraded  situations,  it  may  place  him. 

Not  only  can  the  negro  successfully  compete  with  the 
native  white  man,  and  drive  him  from  the  field,  but  he 
is  also  able  to  expel  the  immigrant  competitor  who  does 
not  shrink  at  all  from  working  in  his  company  and  at 
the  same  tasks.  The  immigrant  laborer  does  not  strive 
long  to  rival  him,  because  no  such  laborer  is  content  to 
live  on  the  same  humble  plane  of  existence ;  in  this,  the 
latter  resembles  the  native  white  laborer,  only  that  he  is 
far  more  irritable  and  complaining.  He  is  dissatisfied 
even  when  he  occupies  a  position  in  which  a  native  white 
man  is  entirely  contented  ;  and  when  he  is  ordered  to 
do  the  lowest  kinds  of  duties  his  objection  is  so  strong, 
that  he  soon  brings  his  service  to  an  end.  The  same 
amount  of  wages  on  which  the  negro  can  subsist  with 
ease  would  not  procure  for  the  immigrant  workingman 
what  he  considers  to  be  the  barest  necessaries  of  life  ;  his 
dwelling  would  be  a  log  cabin,  or  perhaps  a  shanty  ;  his 
food  would  be  of  the  plainest  and  coarsest  nature  and  his 
clothing  of  the  rudest  texture.  These  conditions  combine 


THE  NEGRO  A  S  AN  A  GRICUL  TURAL  LABORER.      I  89 

to  discourage  him  from  competing  with  the  negro,  and  to 
that  extent,  the  latter  exercises  a  most  injurious  influence 
on  the  fortunes  of  the  country  in  which  he  lives,  even  in 
that  character,  in  which  he  is  entitled  to  respect, 
namely,  the  character  of  a  laborer,  for  in  obstructing  the 
immigration  of  foreign  workingmen,  and  in  throwing  a 
shadow  over  the  prospects  of  the  native  white,  he  really 
excludes  foreign  capitalists '  from  the  community  to  a 
very  considerable  degree.  It  has  been  observed  that  the 
immigrant  land-owners,  having  never  been  brought  into 
contact  with  negroes  before,  find  it  impossible  to 
harmonize  with  them.  Accustomed  to  white  laborers, 
who  require  no  continued  supervision  to  compel  them  to 
perform  the  tasks  that  they  have  agreed  to  perform,  these 
proprietors  are  harassed  by  the  uninterrupted  necessity 
of  having  to  look  after  their  colored  employes  even  in 
the  smallest  details,  and  under  circumstances,  in  which 
it  would  be  supposed,  habit,  experience,  and  observation, 
extending  over  many  years,  would  have  trained  the 
employes  to  the  highest  efficiency,  without  personal 
direction.  The  immigrant  proprietors  find  themselves 
contending  without  intermission,  with  the  natural  in 
difference,  carelessness,  and  supineness  of  the  black 
laborer.  Their  tempers,  in  consequence,  become  exas 
perated,  and  they  are  apt  to  be  strict  and  uncompromis 
ing,  without  any  leaven  of  kindness.  Against  this,  the 
nature  of  the  negro  rebels,  his  indifference  and 
carelessness  increase,  his  energies  decline,  he  is  ill  at 
ease,  and  wholly  out  of  accord  with  his  situation. 

The  native  proprietor,  on  the  other  hand,  who  has 

aln  the  terms  "foreign  workingmen"  and  "foreign  capitalists," 
I  include  workingmen  and  capitalists  from  the  States  that  were 
known  as  the  Free  States  before  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves. 


I QO       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

been  accustomed  to  colored  laborers  alone,  has  been 
taught  by  long  experience  that  they  can  only  be  con 
trolled  by  a  judicious  mixture  of  sternness  and  leniency  ; 
that  many  weaknesses  and  deficiencies  in  their  character 
have  to  be  overlooked  as  incapable  of  a  remedy,  and 
that  a  proper  allowance  should  be  made  for  these  faults 
and  their  ill  effect  removed  by  constant  watchfulness  and 
care.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  too,  that  these  weaknesses 
in  the  negro  laborer  foster,  in  some  measure,  the  same 
weaknesses  in  the  native  proprietor  himself.  He  becomes 
infected  by  the  spirit  of  that  easy  philosophy  which  dis 
tinguishes  the  race.  Worn  out  by  the  struggle  to  break 
the  force  of  the  carelessness  and  destructiveness  of  his 
employe,  he  gradually  reaches  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
impossible.  His  eye  at  last  is  not  affronted  by  the  gen 
eral  confusion  and  lack  of  neatness  in  his  immediate 
surroundings  ;  he  is  now  disposed  to  suffer  things  to 
remain  as  they  are,  as  the  burden  of  altering  them,  by 
putting  them  in  a  condition  of  order,  will  necessitate 
afterwards  a  protracted  contest  that  will  entail  a  degree 
of  annoyance  and  vigilance  that  seem  wholly  out  of 
proportion  to  the  result  to  be  attained.  When  he  has 
been  reduced  to  this  state  of  mind,  he  and  his  laborers 
are  in  such  sympathy  that  their  relations  are  of  the 
friendliest  character. 

There  is  one  quality  yi  the  negro  laborer  which  is  now 
regarded  with  increasing  favor  by  his  employer,  and  that 
is  his  natural  and  unconscious  conservatism.  Owing  to 
this  trait,  as  long  as  he  is  left  to  direct  his  own  conduct 
there  is  little  danger  of  labor  being  thrown  into  disorder 
in  the  communities  of  which  the  members  of  his  race 
form  the  larger  proportion  of  inhabitants.1  Strikes  are 

1  The  only  danger  lies  in  the  possibility  of  his  becoming  the  igno 
rant  tool  of  white-labor  organizations. 


THE  NEGRO  A  S  AN  A  GRICUL  TURAL  LABORER.      19 1 

unknown  among  them,  because  they  are  happy  and  con 
tented  if  they  can  secure  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  and 
also  because  they  have  no  disposition  to  organize  and 
co-operate  of  their  own  motion,  even  to  attain  an  ob 
ject  that  will  redound  to  the  advantage  of  all.  Their 
inclination  is  not  to  rebel  for  the  purpose  of  extorting 
higher  wages  for  their  services,  but  rather  to  earn  those 
wages  with  as  little  physical  exertion  as  possible.  In 
some  measure  this  conservative  spirit  is  due  to  their 
long  subordination  to  the  whites,  which  has  fostered  a 
subservient  temper  in  them,  but  to  whatever  ascribable 
it  is  likely  to  strengthen  their  position  in  the  community, 
and,  therefore,  have  a  beneficial  influence  on  their  mate 
rial  condition.  In  consequence  of  this  spirit  they  have 
a  strong  hold  upon  the  good-will  of  the  large  planter, 
who,  although  he  may  express  an  unfavorable  opinion  of 
them  in  many  of  the  relations  of  life,  yet  readily  acknowl 
edges  their  value  to  him  as  laborers.  As  such,  they 
appeal  to  his  selfishness,  and  however  open  to  censure 
and  criticism  in  many  respects,  their  importance  in  this 
character  gives  them  a  claim  upon  his  consideration 
which  is  not  very  much  lessened  by  their  deficiencies  as 
men  and  citizens.  For  this  reason  such  an  employer, 
although  he  will  animadvert  severely  on  the  general 
weaknesses  of  the  race,  and  express  his  fear  as  to  the 
harm  that  such  an  enormous  mass  of  alien  people,  who 
are  distinguished  for  none  of  those  qualities  that  sustain 
civilization,  except  mere  physical  strength,  will  do  to  the 
section  of  country  in  which  they  are  found,  will  yet 
earnestly  deprecate  any  movement  that  looks  to  their 
emigration  in  great  numbers.  The  economic  tie  between 
the  negro  laborer  and  the  large  planter  is  the  only  one 
that  unites  the  two  ;  but  this  makes  them  dependent 
upon  each  other  to  an  important  extent,  in  the  present  age 


IQ2       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

at  least,  in  spite  of  those  influences  of  mere  race  that 
lead  them  to  separate  socially  and  politically  ;  and  this 
is  an  assurance  that  the  negro  is  treated  with  substantial 
justice.  It  is  only  as  a  workingman  that  he  adds  to  the 
wealth  and  augments  the  general  prosperity  of  the  com 
munity.  If  he  were  to  lose  his  efficiency  as  such,  or 
were  to  show  any  desire  to  disorganize  labor,  then  his 
only  element  of  usefulness  to  the  land-owners  and  to 
society  would  be  destroyed.  The  bond  that  now  attaches 
him  to  them  would  be  broken  ;  he  would  become  wholly 
isolated  and  defenseless,  and  would  have  no  recognized 
position  ;  in  consequence  of  which  his  presence  would 
be  regarded  as  an  unmitigated  evil.  The  final  result 
could  only  be  disastrous  to  himself,  for  as  soon  as  his 
rapid  decline  as  a  laborer  sets  in  his  decadence  as  a  man 
begins.  That  decline  is  already  observable,  but  it  is  to 
the  interest  of  the  large  land-owners  at  least  that  he  shall 
not  become  entirely  worthless  in  this  character,  this  in 
terest  being  abetted  by  the  necessity  that  he  is  under  to 
work  ;  and  this  necessity  will  only  be  more  inexorable  as 
the  horde  of  his  race  increases.  In  this  interest  of  the 
principal  land-owners,  as  well  as  in  this  compulsion,  lies 
the  salvation  of  the  negro,  for  several  generations,  un 
doubtedly,  not  only  as  a  workingman,  but  as  an  individ 
ual  and  a  citizen.  His  standing  in  the  community,  while 
he  remains  in  it,  will  be  secure  as  long  as  he  is  docile, 
industrious,  and  conservative  ;  his  decay  will  be  in  pro 
portion  to  his  gradual  loss  of  these  qualities. 


XIII. 

MATERIAL  CONDITION   OF    THE    LABORER. 

WHAT  is  the  material  condition  of  the  laborer  ?  An 
answer  to  this  question  involves  an  examination  of  the 
practical  character  of  the  negro,  as  well  as  of  the  oppor 
tunities  that  he  has  of  securing  the  ordinary  comforts  of 
life.  A  brief  study  of  the  masses  of  the  race  reveals 
that  they  have  many  qualities  that  stand  directly  in  the 
way  of  their  material  improvement  even  in  the  narrowest 
sense  of  the  term  ;  it  may  even  be  said  that  they  have 
many  qualities  that  render  such  improvement  apparently 
impossible.  Whether  these  qualities  are  wholly  indige 
nous,  or  whether  they  are  partially  due  to  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  that  both  provided  for  the  slave  and 
removed  all  incentive  to  prudence  by  taking  away  its  re 
ward,  is  open  to  discussion.  The  probability  is  that 
slavery  merely  fostered  certain  qualities  that  were  al 
ready  highly  developed  in  the  negro  ;  for  when  we  come 
to  inquire  into  his  condition  wherever  he  has  always 
been  free,  there  we  find  him  remarkable,  substantially, 
for  the  same  traits,  traits  that  have  either  directly  pre 
vented  him  from  rising  above  barbarism,  or  which  at 
least  have  not  assisted  him  to  do  so.  The  most  unfor 
tunate  of  these  traits  are  carelessness,  improvidence,  and 
destructiveness.  To  a  certain  extent  his  transportation 
to  America  (although  he  was  brought  hither  only  as  a 
slave)  elevated  him  at  once,  economically  speaking,  be- 

193 


194      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

cause  it  raked  his  standard  of  physical  comfort.  The 
material  aspirations  of  the  American  negro  of  to-day,  as 
differentiated  Irom  his  material  condition,  are  certainly 
higher  than  those  of  his  African  kinsmen,  since  he 
has  passed  /us  whole  life  in  close  contact  with  white 
people,  and  has  adopted  their  ideas  very  largely.  His 
material  condition,  however,  is  not  strikingly  superior  to 
that  of  the  African  blacks.  Like  the  latter  he  lives  con 
tentedly  amid  surroundings  that  would  be  revolting  to 
sensibilities  of  the  least  refinement.  Even  where  an 
individual  is  found  who  chafes  against  such  environ 
ment,  it  is  observed  that  he  is  kept  in  the  position  which 
he  dislikes  by  those  ungovernable  qualities  to  which  I 
have  already  referred.  The  exception  is  when  the  negro 
is  not  distinguished  for  these  qualities,  and  it  is  doubt 
ful  as  to  which  of  the  three  obstructs  his  improvement 
most.  By  carelessness  I  mean  not  merely  heedlessness 
and  lack  of  attention,  but  also  that  spirit  of  indifference 
which  accepts  a  mean  lot  with  an  acquiescence  that  is 
not  disturbed  by  any  desire  to  rise  to  a  higher  condition, 
or  that  is  not  led  to  repine  against  the  narrowness  of 
destiny.  Many  negroes  have  a  fluctuating  ambition  to 
advance  their  fortunes,  but  this  ambition  rarely  causes 
them  to  repress  the  characteristics  that  thwart  their 
wishes,  and  it  still  more  rarely  makes  them  dissatisfied 
with  their  present  situation.  The  individuals  of  the  race 
take  life  with  an  unconscious  and  spontaneous  philosophy, 
happy  if  they  can  get  food  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of 
the  body,  and  contented  as  long  as  they  have  the  roof  of 
a  cabin  to  protect  them  from  the  weather,  wood  with 
which  to  kindle  a  fire,  on  the  hearth,  and  clothes  with 
which  to  conceal  their  nakedness.  In  the  midst  of  the 
lowest  circumstances  they  live  in  a  state  of  complacency 


MATERIAL    CONDITIO*      OF  THE  LABORER.      195 

that  is  little  shaken  either  by  the  ordinary  cares  peculiar 
to  human  life,  or  by  those  which,  it  would  be  supposed, 
would  be  incidental  to  their  humble  condition.  As  long 
as  they  can  earn  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  obtain  the 
few  articles  that  they  need,  they  do  not  think  that  they 
have  any  ground  for  complaint.  Fortunately  for  them, 
their  credit  is  generally  restricted  to  the  amount  of  their 
wages,  and  when  the  limit  of  that  credit  is  reached,  they 
are  compelled  to  shift  as  they  can,  which  they  do  without 
any  apparent  loss  of  cheerfulness. 

A  much  more  lamentable  quality  is  their  improvidence, 
a  quality  which  has  its  origin  in  that  carelessness  of 
nature  to  which  allusion  has  been  made.  This  quality 
was  very  much  fostered  by  slavery,  and  it  has  also  been 
nourished  by  the  influences  that  slavery  transmitted  to 
this  age  ;  but  it  is  probably  indigenous,  being  an  out 
growth  of  that  childishness  which  crops  out  in  every 
phase  of  the  general  character  of  the  negro.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  traits  of  his  mind,  that  it  dwells  on 
the  present  alone  ;  he  does  not  learn  by  experience  from 
the  past  to  make  provision  for  the  future,  and  the  conse 
quence  is,  that  in  his  desire  to  accomplish  his  immediate 
purpose  he  overlooks  the  injury  that  he  may  be  doing 
himself  in  the  light  of  a  time  that  has  not  yet  arrived.  In 
many  respects  he  resembles  the  common  sailor,  being 
ready  to  throw  away  in  brief  self-indulgence  the  fruits  of 
his  patient  toil  and  long  endurance  of  harsh  conditions, 
and  when  these  fruits  are  spent  he  is  not  racked  by  the 
pangs  of  regret.  It  may  be  asserted,  without  overstate 
ment,  that  his  inclination  to  gratify  his  tastes  in  those 
ways  that  money  allows  is  only  circumscribed  by  the 
limitation  put  upon  his  freedom  of  purchase  by  the  per 
son  who  seeks  to  make  the  most  of  his  improvidence  in 


196       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

selling  him  the  various  articles  he  wishes  to  buy.  The 
number  that  he  will  take  on  account  is  only  restricted  by 
the  prudence  of  his  creditor.  If  he  were  permitted,  he 
would  thus  bind  himself  on  a  single  occasion  to  an 
amount  that  would  not  only  absorb  his  annual  wages, 
but  plunge  him  so  deeply  in  debt  that  it  would  be  im 
possible  for  him  to  extricate  himself  afterwards  ;  and  he 
would  do  this,  not  from  any  lurking  hope  that  he  can  elude 
his  creditor  when  pressed  to  pay,  but  in  a  spirit  of  general 
extravagance.  There  is  no  article  that  he  will  not  pur 
chase,  however  absurd  in  itself  or  however  useless  to 
him.  Let  it  but  strike  his  fancy,  and  the  more  gaudy  and 
showy  it  is,  the  more  forcibly  does  it  appeal  to  his  imagi 
nation.  If  he  has  no  cash  to  give  in  return  for  it,  he  will 
be  anxious  to  have  it  set  down  to  his  credit,  and  will  ear 
nestly  deprecate  a  refusal  to  do  so  on  the  part  of  its 
owner.  Even  if  the  income  of  the  negro  increases  for 
any  reason,  his  expenses  not  only  keep  step  with  the 
sum  that  he  is  paid,  but  the  improvement  in  his  fortunes 
is  apt  to  make  him,  if  possible,  still  more  improvident  ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  will  be  more  pinched 
as  a  man  of  fair  pecuniary  resources  than  he  was  as  a 
common  laborer  working  for  slender  wages. 

The  spirit  of  wastefulness  in  his  general  affairs  takes  in 
the  course  of  his  daily  life  the  form  of  destructiveness. 
This  characteristic  of  his  nature  is  a  great  drawback  to  the 
use  of  improved  machinery  in  the  ordinary  operations  of 
the  farm  or  plantation.  He  is  disposed  to  run  the  reaper 
against  a  stump  if  it  is  situated  conveniently,  or  to  drive 
the  mower  against  a  stone  ;  he  is  not  inapt  to  allow  a  stick 
to  crash  through  the  drum  of  the  steam  thresher ;  and  if 
he  has  been  trained  to  act  as  the  engineer  in  charge  of 
the  boiler,  there  is  much  danger  of  his  suffering  the 


MA  TERIAL   CONDITION  OF  THE  LABORER.      197 

pressure  to  rise  so  high  as  to  result  in  a  fatal  explosion. 
It  is  found  to  be  quite  impossible  to  keep  glass  in  the 
windows  of  any  cabin  which  he  inhabits.  It  would  furnish 
a  glazier  almost  uninterrupted  occupation  to  renew  the 
panes  of  the  windows  of  many  such  cabins  whenever 
they  were  broken.  Not  long  after  these  panes  are  first 
put  in,  each  window-frame  will  be  observed  to  present  a 
very  motley  aspect,  patches  of  quilting,  torn  linen,  pieces 
of  old  clothing,  and  faded  newspapers  being  discovered 
in  the  spaces  where  glass  formerly  was.  The  same  de 
structive  instinct  is  exhibited  in  the  facility  with  which 
the  negroes  will  burn  up  the  dry  rails  of  all  the  fences  in 
their  vicinity  ;  they  will  often  transport  very  valuable 
plank  from  a  long  distance  to  convert  it  into  fuel,  or 
they  will  tear  from  their  cabins,  for  the  same  purpose,  all 
the  boards  that  can  be  thus  used  without  exposing  them 
selves  to  the  seventy  of  the  weather. 

With  these  unhappy  qualities,  which  are  found  in  all 
the  individuals  of  the  race,  with  few  exceptions,  it  would 
be  impossible  for  the  laborers  to  improve  their  condition, 
even  if  the  opportunities  of  earning  money  were  numer 
ous.  The  means  of  securing  a  livelihood  at  least  is 
within  the  reach  of  all  ;  and  if  they  could  only  acquire 
habits  of  prudence  and  economy,  there  is  no  reaso'n  wn*y 
they  should  not  be  in  the  possession  of  every  substantial 
comfort,  but  unfortunately  these  virtues  are  rarely  ob 
served  in  them,  however  industrious.  The  rates  of 
wages  range  from  eighty  to  a  hundred  dollars  a  year 
with  rations,  or  eight  to  ten  dollars  a  month,  or  forty 
to  fifty  cents  a  day.  Cradlemen,  ditchers,  assorters  of 
tobacco  are  paid  higher  for  the  same  length  of  time, 
while  women,  girls,  and  boys  receive  from  twenty-five 
to  forty  cents,  whether  they  work  in  the  fields  or  barns. 


198       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  getting  employment,  either  per 
manently  or  from  month  to  month,  or  even  from  day  to 
day  at  certain  times  of  the  year  when  there  are  special 
tasks  to  be  performed  on  the  farms  and  plantations. 
This  is  notably  the  case  at  the  season  when  the  wheat  is 
being  reaped  or  the  tobacco  crop  is  fast  approaching  the 
stage  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  cut  it.  Previous  to 
that  the  plants  have  to  be  constantly  examined  very 
closely  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  worms  that 
commit  such  ravage.  Tobacco  is  a  crop  that  requires  a 
large  force  of  laborers  throughout  the  year,  since  its 
manipulation,  even  after  it  has  been  cured  and  stored 
away  in  the  barn,  is  as  tedious  and  critical  as  its  cultiva 
tion  in  the  lots.  It  remains  on  the  hands  of  the  planter 
from  ten  to  fourteen  months,  including  the  period  be 
tween  the  sowing  of  the  seed  in  the  bed  to  the  sale  of 
the  leaves  by  the  hundred-weight  in  the  market.  During 
this  prolonged  interval  it  is  essential  that  it  should  have 
the  most  assiduous  and  varied  attention.  On  the  ex 
tensive  plantations,  the  operations  of  which  are  compli 
cated  and  continuous,  the  laborers  are  engaged  by  the  year, 
the  agreement  being  entered  into  by  employer  and  em 
ploye  on  the  first  of  January,  a  written  contract  being 
drawn  of  that  date.  If  this  contract  is  broken  by  the 
laborer,  which  so  often  happens  when  interest  or  caprice 
prompt  him  to  move  to  some  other  locality,  there  is 
really  no  remedy,  as  suit  upon  the  obligation  would  not 
result  in  any  pecuniary  advantage,  the  negro  having  no 
property  of  value  to  be  levied  on,  even  if  he  can  be  found 
in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  original  Court.  Entrance  into 
this  written  agreement  is  therefore  a  mere  form,  on  the 
whole,  and  it  is  very  frequently  dispensed  with  as  only 
amounting  to  such.  If  the  laborer  is  paid  in  money,  an 


MATERIAL    CONDITION   OF  THE  LABORER.      199 

order  is  given  him  each  month  on  the  merchant  who  has 
a  store  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  who  acts,  to 
a  certain  degree,  as  the  disbursing  agent  of  the  property- 
owners  of  the  community.  This  order,  as  a  rule,  is  ac 
cepted  by  him  in  liquidation  of  the  debts  that  the  laborer 
has  made  there  during  the  previous  four  weeks,  for  the 
latter  practically  lives  upon  credit,  the  compensation  for 
his  work  being  usually  exhausted  even  before  it  is  earned. 
If  he  has  been  careful,  however,  not  to  become  indebted 
at  the  store,  the  order  is  either  cashed  or  received  in 
payment  of  such  articles  as  he  wishes  to  buy.  While  the 
merchant  is  apt  to  get  possession  of  the  wages  of  the  la 
borer  sooner  or  later,  the  display  of  articles  in  his  estab 
lishment  often  tempting  the  hand  to  purchase  what  he 
would  not  otherwise  think  of  buying,  still  indirectly  the 
merchant  represses  the  extravagant  disposition  of  his 
customer;  he,  at  least,  generally  compels  him  to  live 
within  his  income,  although  occasionally  the  cause  of 
that  income  being  spent  in  a  manner  that  does  not  result 
to  the  advantage  of  the  customer.  The  storekeeper  who 
credits  the  negro  beyond  the  sum  of  his  monthly  or  an 
nual  wages,  is  aware  that  he  does  so  at  the  greatest  risk. 
To  allow  the  laborer  to  contract  a  large  debt,  is  to  tempt 
him  to  decamp  without  giving  any  notice  of  his  intention 
to  depart.  So  well  is  this  inclination  understood,  that 
the  merchant  is  reluctant  to  trust  him,  even  to  the  amount 
of  his  monthly  wages,  if  he  is  unmarried,  and  therefore 
without  any  local  ties. 

The  storekeeper  who  is  lax  in  granting  credit  to  the 
negroes,  is  not  only  considered  by  the  planters  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  requirements  of  his  business,  but  is  also 
regarded  as  more  or  less  an  undesirable  member  of  the 
community,  since  his  conduct  is  likely  to  increase  the 


200      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

restlessness  of  the  laborers  by  creating  a  definite  reason 
why  they  should  wish  to  leave  the  neighborhood. 

The  total  advantages,  in  various  forms,  that  the  ordi 
nary  laborer  in  steady  employment  enjoys,  are  consider 
able,  independently  of  his  wages.  In  the  first  place,  he 
is  supplied  without  charge  with  rations  in  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  his  family  and  himself. 
As  a  rule,  he  chooses  the  plainest  fare,  perhaps  because 
the  work  he  does,  calls  for  food  of  the  strongest  and  most 
nourishing  sort  ;  he,  therefore,  prefers  bacon  and  the 
meal  of  the  Indian  corn  to  beef  and  flour  ;  and  this  is 
fortunate  for  himself,  as  the  price  of  the  former  is  much 
less,  in  proportion  to  quantity,  than  that  of  the  latter. 
The  regular  allowance  to  an  ordinary  hand  is  12  pounds 
of  bacon  and  5  pecks  of  meal  by  the  month,  or  144  pounds 
of  bacon  and  60  pecks  of  meal  by  the  year,  which,  if  he 
had  to  purchase  them,  would  cost  him  twenty-three 
dollars  in  the  course  of  twelve  months.  In  addition  to  his 
rations,  which  are  furnished  to  him  as  an  important  part 
of  what  he  earns  in  compensation  for  his  services,  he  is 
granted  certain  valuable  privileges.  Thus,  he  is  always 
permitted  to  fatten  two  hogs  at  least,  which  generally 
reach  a  great  size,  as  they  are  fed  on  the  refuse  of  his 
cabin,  and  on  the  nutritious  weeds  that  he  cuts  down 
along  the  banks  of  the  streams.  An  acre  of  land,  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  his  dwelling,  is  assigned  to  him  as  a 
garden  ;  and  here,  by  the  labor  of  a  few  hours,  he  can 
produce  many  kinds  of  vegetables  in  profusion,  such  as 
beets,  peas,  potatoes,  melons,  cabbage,  and  tomatoes, 
which  he  eats  as  they  ripen,  or  stores  away  for  winter 
consumption  according  to  variety.  Furthermore,  he  is 
frequently  allowed  to  cultivate  little  patches  of  corn, 
either  in  plats  of  ground  near  his  house,  or  on  parts  of  the 


MATERIAL    CONDITION   OF  THE  LABORER.      2OI 

plantation  or  farm  to  which  he  is  attached  that  are  not 
in  tillage.  The  wages  that  he  is  paid  in  money  is 
increased  by  the  amount  which  he  receives  for  the  eggs 
and  the  fowls  that  he  sells,  a  purchaser  being  found  in 
the  country  merchant  or  the  planter  or  farmer  himself ; 
or  these  articles  of  food  can  be  used  to  supply  his  own 
table. 

These  various  comforts  are  within  the  reach  of  every 
industrious  negro  if  he  manages  his  general  affairs  with 
economy  ;  if  he  fails  to  secure  them,  it  is  because  he 
dislikes  to  work  steadily  for  any  one  employer,  or  is 
indifferent  to  his  own  prosperity.  By  a  proper  disposal 
of  his  narrow  income,  he  can  even  obtain  what  would 
be  considered  by  laborers  of  other  countries  to  be  the 
greatest  luxuries.  All  the  articles  that  he  desires, 
whether  to  gratify  his  actual  wants  or  his  idle  tastes,  can 
be  purchased  at  the  nearest  store,  for  the  stock  of  goods 
on  hand  there  was  bought  with  a  view  to  his  needs  and 
fancies  alone.  The  variety  of  this  stock  is  quite  bewil 
dering,  representing,  as  it  does  to  a  limited  extent  in  each 
direction,  the  goods  to  be  found  in  a  general  combination 
of  city  shops.  The  country  store,  in  fact,  is  an  estab 
lishment  in  which  few  articles  of  merchandise  are 
wanting  ;  there  are  groceries  and  sweet  meats,  liquors 
and  medicines,  trinkets,  clothing  and  calicoes,  pictures 
and  toys,  leather  and  tin  in  every  form,  wooden-ware, 
earthen-ware  and  hardware.  While  the  prices  at  which 
these  different  kinds  of  goods  are  retailed  realize  a  hand 
some  percentage  on  the  sums  paid  for  them  at  wholesale, 
still  the  amounts  for  which  they  are  sold  do  not  draw 
too  largely  upon  the  resources  of  the  negroes,  otherwise 
the  custom  of  the  merchant  would  soon  fall  off  so  much 
as  to  lead  to  his  bankruptcy.  An  excellent  suit  of 


202       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

clothing  can  be  bought  for  six  dollars,  and  the  negro 
only  needs  two  suits  a  year  ;  a  pair  of  shoes  can  be  pur 
chased  for  two  dollars,  and  a  pair  of  stout  boots  for 
three.  A  hat  entails  an  expense  of  fifty  cents,  and  its 
owner  will  consider  it  fit  to  be  worn  for  an  indefinite 
time.  Calico  sells  for  seven  cents  a  yard,  and  other 
articles  in  feminine  use  can  be  secured  at  proportionate 
figures  ;  coffee  is  rated  at  thirteen  cents  a  pound,  sugar  at 
eight  cents,  flour  at  four.  All  other  groceries  can  be 
obtained  according  to  the  same  scale  of  prices.  Articles 
of  furniture  and  household  utensils  are  sold  quite  cheaply, 
and  are  within  the  limits  of  the  laborer's  purse,  provided 
that  he  has  not  exhausted  its  contents  already  in  an  im 
proper  way.  An  examination  of  his  monthly  account 
discloses  that  the  greater  part  of  his  wages  has  been 
spent  in  small  luxuries  with  which  he  could  dispense,  or 
in  mere  trifles.  The  most  important  items  of  this  kind, 
are  whiskey  and  ginger  cakes.  It  is  not  going  too  far  to 
say  that  the  majority  of  laborers  waste  in  these  two 
forms  of  physical  indulgence  money  enough  in  the 
course  of  ten  years  to  have  purchased  for  each  one  the 
historic  imaginary  apportionment  of  forty  acres  and  a 
mule.  The  sums  expended  in  whiskey  are  especially 
large,  and  yet  it  is  rare  to  find  among  the  negroes  a 
confirmed  drunkard,  perhaps  because  their  pecuniary 
resources  are  so  narrow  that  they  cannot  gratify  the 
appetite  for  liquor  as  uninterruptedly  as  they  would  like, 
and  also  because  they  are  compelled  by  their  situation  to 
work  for  a  livelihood  ;  nevertheless,  the  amount  that  they 
spend  in  dram-drinking  is  out  of  proportion  to  their 
means  as  well  as  their  necessary  expenses.  The  adoption 
of  a  general  prohibitory  law  would,  no  doubt,  lessen  if  it 
would  not  put  an  end  to  this  kind  of  extravagance,  but 


c 


w 

MA  TERIAL   CONDITION  OF  THE  LABOKE 

the  negroes  would  be  little  aided  pecuniarily  by  such  a 
law,  as  their  money  would  be  squandered  in  some  other 
way. 

Independently  of  the  country  store,  the  laborer  rarely 
becomes  indebted  to  any  one  except  his  employer  ;  there 
is  generally  a  running  account  between  the  two,  but  this 
account  does  not  extend  beyond  the  ordinary  necessaries 
of  life.  Occasionally  the  laborer  purchases  flour  or 
small  supplies  of  beef  and  mutton  from  the  planter,  but 
the  latter  does  not,  on  the  whole,  find  it  either  profitable 
or  convenient,  although  the  body  of  men  under  contract 
to  him  may  be  very  large,  to  furnish  them  systematically 
with  those  simple  luxuries,  or  those  articles  that  appeal 
to  their  fancy  only,  which  they  are  so  ready  to  buy.  It 
is  rare  that  an  estate  is  inhabited  by  a  sufficient  number 
of  blacks  to  justify  the  erection  of  a  store  by  its  owner, 
for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  the  benefit  of  their  trade 
alone. 

The  negro,  however,  runs  little  risk  of  being  improp 
erly  treated  as  a  customer  by  the  country  merchants,  for 
they  all  thrive  upon  his  earnings  ;  indeed  there  is  much 
competition  among  them  to  obtain  his  patronage,  special 
advantages  being  offered  as  an  inducement  to  secure  his 
good-will.  So  numerous  are  the  stores  in  a  populous 
country  side,  that  he  has  always  a  choice  of  trading  at 
any  one  of  two  or  three,  and  he  selects  the  one  that 
allows  him  the  easiest  terms.  He  would  prefer  to  make 
his  purchases  at  a  store  to  dealing  with  his  employer 
directly,  not  only  because  such  an  establishment  presents 
a  tempting  variety  of  goods,  but  also  because  it  serves 
very  largely  as  a  club,  where  many  of  his  fellows  gather 
after  nightfall,  both  to  buy  what  they  need,  and  to  ex 
change  the  freshest  items  of  gossip  and  to  tell  the  latest 


2O4       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

joke.  They  rarely,  under  these  or  any  other  circum 
stances,  enter  into  bargains  of  sale  with  individuals  of 
their  own  race,  for  they  distrust  one  another's  word  too 
much  to  be  contented  with  a  promise  as  the  only  basis 
of  exchange.  It  is  only  infrequently  that  they  sell  any 
thing  to  each  other  for  cash  even,  as  they  have  little 
ready  money  ;  and  then,  too,  the  articles  that  they 
would  thus  buy  can  be  easily  gotten  on  credit  at  the 
neighboring  store. 

If  we  visit  the  homes  of  the  laborers  on  all  the  planta 
tions  in  the  same  section,  we  find  that  their  material  con 
dition  is  similar  everywhere,  as  a  rule,  although  occasion 
ally  a  marked  difference  is  observed  both  in  the  character 
and  the  surroundings  of  their  cabins.  On  many  of  the 
large  plantations,  that  remain  very  much  as  they  were  in 
the  age  of  slavery,  these  cabins  are  arranged  in  the  form 
of  a  street,  a  considerable  number  of  such  structures 
being  erected  either  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  each 
other,  with  the  space  of  but  a  few  feet  between  them,  or 
they  stand  apart  at  intervals  of  forty  or  fifty  yards. 
These  are  the  quarters  of  slavery  times,  which  still  exist 
as  a  lingering  reminder  of  a  regime  that  has  passed  away. 
Many  of  the  cabins  of  these  quarters  were  built  origi 
nally  of  the  best  material,  and  in  the  most  thorough 
manner,  and  will  last  in  excellent  condition  for  many 
decades  still.  Some  were  even  built  of  brick,  and  as 
such  will  endure  practically  for  an  indefinite  time,  but  the 
use  of  brick  for  this  purpose  was  quite  rare.  Generally 
they  are  of  wood,  either  in  the  form  of  hewn  logs  or  of 
common  plank.  The  cabins  on  many  of  the  farms  and 
plantations  are  not  all  found  in  the  vicinity  of  each 
other,  but  are  separated  into  distinct  groups  of  two  or 
more,  that  have  a  long  distance  intervening  between 


MATERIAL   CONDITION  OF  THE  LABORER.      2O$ 

them.  A  cabin  is  sometimes  discovered  in  the  midst  of 
the  forest,  with  no  other  house  within  a  mile  of  its  site.  As 
a  rule,  however,  the  dwellings  of  the  laborers  are  erected 
where  they  will  be  situated  conveniently  to  the  barns  and 
stables. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  tobacco  region  of  Vir 
ginia,  the  eye  of  the  traveller  lights  upon  the  domiciles 
of  the  negroes  at  every  opening  in  the.  woods  or  turn  of 
the  road  ;  and  they  range  in  character  from  the  meanest 
hovel  to  the  plain  but  substantial  cabin.  A  more  dreary 
and  uncomfortable  habitation  than  the  former  could 
hardly  be  conceived  by  the  imagination.  Such  a  hut  is 
always  constructed  of  pine  logs  from  which  the  bark  has 
not  been  stripped,  the  open  space  between  them  being 
filled  in  with  the  tenacious  red  clay  of  the  country.  The 
chimneys  are  made  of  sticks,  sustained  and  protected  by 
the  same  natural  plastering  ;  the  original  earth  constitutes 
the  flooring  ;  rough  stones  take  the  place  of  iron  dogs  on 
the  hearth.  An  iron  pot,  a  frying-pan,  a  few  plates  of 
the  coarsest  manufacture,  a  few  knives  with  horn  handles, 
are  the  only  utensils  and  ware  ;  while  a  bed,  a  table,  and 
a  couple  of  chairs  or  stools,  all  more  or  less  shattered, 
are  the  only  furniture.  The  plank  ceiling,  which  has  a 
tendency  to  sway  towards  the  middle,  can  be  touched 
with  the  fingers  without  difficulty.  In  one  corner  the 
meal  box  is  -generally  placed,  while  in  the  other  the 
family  tub  stands  on  its  bench.  A  pair  of  rickety  steps 
leads  up  to  a  dark  garret,  in  which  a  variety  of  articles 
are  stored  away,  such  as  ragged  clothing,  broken  chairs, 
tools,  the  corn  that  has  been  gathered  from  the  field  near 
the  house,  and  the  winter  vegetables.  However  poor 
the  household  may  be,  there  are  three  things  which  it 
never  lacks — namely,  wood  for  the  fire,  fresh  water,  and 


206       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

pure  air.  The  window  and  door  are  always  open,  and 
the  cracks  between  the  logs  in  the  mud  plastering  are 
often  large  enough  to  admit  the  hand  ;  hickory,  oak,  and 
pine  grow  close  by,  and  from  the  spring  in  the  neighbor 
ing  ravine  there  wells  up  perennially  water  as  cool  as  the 
soil  of  the  earth  through  which  it  flows. 

Occasionally  a  cabin  that  is  quite  substantial  in  ap 
pearance  is  observed,  being  built  of  large  hewn  logs, 
properly  plastered,  the  chimneys  of  stone,  the  roofs 
closely  shingled,  the  flooring  of  smooth  planks,  the  fire 
places  open  and  commodious,  the  furniture  excellent 
and  well  preserved.  Around  the  walls  are  tacked 
pictures  from  illustrated  papers  or  books  ;  here  and 
there,  too,  a  bunch  of  dried  pepper  or  other  seed  plant 
is  hung,  or  a  hare  or  opossum  skin.  In  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  such  a  cabin  there  is  usually  a  garden 
full  of  every  kind  of  vegetable  ;  also  a  few  apple,  peach, 
and  cherry  trees.  Not  infrequently,  too,  there  are 
flowers,  the  favorite  being  the  flaring  sun-flower,  that  is 
supposed  to  keep  off  the  floating  germs  of  malaria  that 
rise  from  the  marshy  watercourses.  The  clothes-line 
displays  the  abundant  wearing  apparel  of  the  household. 
At  a  short  distance  off  the  pig-sty  is  erected,  not  always 
far  enough  away,  however,  for  the  wind  to  intercept  its 
pungent  odors.  Here  the  family  hogs  are  fattened  on 
the  succulent  weeds  of  the  country,  such  as  wild  parsley 
and  the  buffalo  cane,  or  the  refuse  of  the  table  boiled  in 
a  mess  in  the  pot.  Chickens,  ducks,  and  turkeys  run 
about  in  search  of  food,  and  here  and  there  lounges  a 
cur  or  hound  that  springs  up  with  loud  and  fierce  barks 
as  the  stranger  approaches. 

The  families  of  the  negroes,  as  a  rule,  live  upon  the 
coarsest  fare,  served  in  the  plainest  way,  and  there  is 


MA  TERIAL   CONDITION  OF  THE  LABORER.      2O? 

• 

little  difference  in  the  character  of  their  daily  meals  ; 
bacon  and  corn  bread  constitute  the  staple  of  their  food 
in  the  morning  and  evening  alike,  and  the  meat  is  eaten 
from  the  utensil  in  which  it  is  cooked,  quite  frequently 
without  the  assistance  of  any  thing  less  primitive  than  the 
fingers  and  a  common  knife.  There  is  observed,  how 
ever,  among  many,  especially  among  those  who  have 
grown  up  since  the  close  of  the  war,  a  marked  desire  to 
improve  and  vary  the  character  of  their  fare  ;  much  of 
their  earnings  in  consequence  is  wasted  in  victuals  and 
luxuries  which  they  cannot  afford.  Instead  of  increasing 
their  comforts  directly  by  raising  poultry,  enlarging  their 
gardens,  and  by  general  good  management,  they  devote 
such  money  as  they  can  acquire  to  the  purchase  of  ex 
pensive  groceries  which  they  could  do  without,  or  which 
they  should  not  buy,  unless  their  wages  were  higher  or 
these  wages  were  augmented  by  other  pecuniary  re 
sources.  In  some  of  the  cabins  every  table  convenience 
is  found,  such  as  plates,  dishes,  knives,  and  forks,  and  the 
meals  are  neatly  and  substantially  served.  This  superior 
style  of  living  is  noticed  most  often  on  the  largest  plan 
tations,  where  the  laborers  enjoy  many  valuable  privileges 
that  are  out  of  the  reach  of  individuals  who  are  employed 
in  less  favorable  situations.  If  the  traveller  should  grow 
hungry  when  the  nearest  tavern  is  still  many  miles  away 
and  no  planter's  home  is  in  sight,  he  can  probably  obtain 
in  the  most  prosperous  of  their  dwellings  what  he  will 
consider  a  fair  meal,  if  his  palate  is  not  very  fastidious. 
As  soon  as  he  states  his  wish,  a  table  is  drawn  forward 
and  a  cloth  spread  over  it  ;  on  this  a  plate,  knife,  and 
fork  are  placed,  and  he  is  bidden  to  take  a  seat,  with  an 
apology  for  the  necessary  delay  in  preparation.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  negro  housewife  has  sifted  the  meal  from  the 


208       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

• 

brand  and  kneaded  a  large  cake,  which  she  deposits  near 
the  centre  of  the  fire  after  raking  away  the  embers,  and 
then  covers  it  up  with  the  hot  ashes  and  live  coals. 
Freshly  laid  eggs  are  brought  from  the  hen-house,  and 
set  to  frying  with  several  slips  of  bacon  in  the  frying-pan  ; 
a  young  chicken  is  cast  into  the  pot,  or  broiled  on  the 
gridiron  ;  potatoes,  tomatoes,  corn,  peas,  as  the  guest 
may  prefer,  are  cooked  ;  and  when  all  are  ready,  meat, 
eggs,  and  vegetables  are  dished  and  set  on  the  board ;  a 
glass  of  buttermilk  is  placed  on  one  side  of  the  plate,  and 
the  ash-cake,  smoking  hot  and  washed  clean,  on  the 
other  ;  and  the  traveller  is  bidden  to  eat,  while  one  of  the 
children  fans  the  flies  away  with  a  green  bough.  The 
rural  feast  is  crowned  with  fruit,  if  the  old-fashioned 
peach  trees,  that  are  usually  planted  around  each  cabin, 
are  in  bearing,  and  the  fruit  has  ripened  ;  or,  if  not,  then 
a  cup  of  store  coffee,  that  has  been  carefully  put  away  for 
Sunday  or  a  holiday,  is  substituted  for  it.  The  character 
of  the  meal  would  harmonize  somewhat  with  the  time  of 
the  year  :  if  it  were  winter,  a  hare  or  opossum  might  be 
served  up  instead  of  the  chicken,  or  some  part  of  the  pig 
that  has  only  been  lately  slaughtered,  or  even  a  piece  of 
beef  or  mutton,  which  the  householder  has  recently 
bought  from  his  employer. 

There  are  few  laborers  who  have  as  many  opportunities 
to  surround  themselves  in  their  homes  with  every  rea 
sonable  comfort  as  the  negroes  of  the  tobacco  region  of 
Virginia,  and  if  they  fail  to  do  so,  it  is  owing  to  their 
improvidence,  wastefulness,  and  indifference.  Employ 
ment  is  easily  obtained,  and  at  such  wages  as  to  place 
even  the  luxuries  of  life  in  their  reach,  if  they  will  only 
husband  their  resources  ;  there  is  so  much  untilled  soil 
that  every  large  planter  allows  his  hands  to  cultivate 


MATERIAL   CONDITION  OF   THE  LABORER.      209 

considerable  surfaces  for  their  private  use ;  fowls  of 
every  variety  can  be  raised  ;  the  woods  and  fields  are  full 
of  many  kinds  of  game  that  can  be  trapped  ;  the  forests 
supply  an  abundance  of  fuel ;  and  there  are  stores 
wherever  two  public  roads  cross.  In  addition  to  these 
advantages,  the  blacks  have  their  schools  and  churches, 
and  they  are  so  numerous  as  a  people  that  they  never 
lack  social  amusements.  If  they  grow  weary  of  one 
locality  they  can  find  work  and  a  home  elsewhere  ;  if 
they  tire  of  one  form  of  occupation,  they  can  adopt 
another  without  any  delay  ;  they  can  labor  for  wages  or 
on  shares  as  they  prefer  ;  they  can  rent  land  on  their 
own  account ;  or  they  can  seek  the  railroads,  or  settle 
in  the  towns  and  become  house  servants. 

The  condition  of  the  few  among  them  who  show  pru 
dence  and  judgment  is  certainly  superior  to  the  condition 
of  the  lowest  class  of  whites  who,  in  our  principal  cities,  toil 
in  the  unwholesome  atmosphere  of  factories  and  pine  with 
disease  and  poverty  in  small  and  filthy  tenements.  Let 
any  one  go  into  those  parts  of  these  great  cities  where 
this  class  lives.  Let  him  mark  their  sallow  and  haggard 
faces,  their  sunken  eyes  and  unclean  persons — let  him 
breathe  the  stifling  air  and  smell  the  foul  odors,  and  then 
suddenly  let  him  be  dropped  down  into  the  midst  of  a  clus 
ter  of  cabins  on  a  prosperous  plantation.  Good-humored 
faces  there  surround  him  on  all  sides,  and  he  sees  content 
ed  dispositions  reflected  in  every  feature.  His  eye  takes  in 
at  a  glance  the  different  signs  of  comfort  about  the  home 
steads,  shabby  and  humble  though  they  may  be, — the  pig 
fattening  in  the  sty,  the  little  patch  of  corn  or  tobacco, 
the  peach  and  apple  trees,  the  kitchen-garden,  the  pile 
of  seasoned  fuel,  the  umbrageous  oak  that  shades  the 
well  trodden  yard,  the  rustic  spring  with  its  connecting 


210      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

path,  the  poultry  running  in  various  directions,  the  chil 
dren  rolling  in  the  dirt,  the  wife  and  mother  cooking  or 
sewing ;  all  being  enveloped  in  the  healthy  air  of  the 
country  that  is  laden  with  the  fresh,  odors  of  the  fields 
and  forests.  Does  he  doubt  for  a  moment  which  of  the 
two  has  most  reason  to  be  satisfied,  the  indigent  workman 
of  the  town  or  the  laborer  who  tills  the  green  fields  ? 

The  material  improvement  of  the  laborer  is  obstructed, 
as  I  have  already  remarked,  by  the  fact  that  he  is  con 
tented  whether  he  is  environed  by  all  these  comforts 
or  not.  His  condition  may  be  the  reverse  of  that  which 
I  have  described,  and  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  it 
is.  His  cabin  may  be  a  decayed  shanty  with  a  dirt  floor, 
and  with  a  hole  in  one  side  for  a  window, — a  hovel  as 
primitive  as  the  hut  of  a  Dinka  or  a  Zulu  ;  its  surround 
ings  may  show  no  evidence  of  the  least  thrift ;  it  may  be 
without  a  garden,  or  corn  patch,  or  pig-pen  ;  and  yet  it 
would  be  impossible  to  find  a  man  who  regarded  exis 
tence  with  more  placid  happiness  or  more  boisterous 
cheerfulness  than  its  tenant  does.  No  desire  to  rise 
troubles  his  brain,  and  no  envy  of  those  who  are  rich 
gnaws  at  his  heart.  The  past  has  vanished  ;  the  future 
has  no  existence  ;  it  is  the  present  alone  that  knocks  at 
the  door  of  his  mind,  and  he  is  fully  satisfied  as  long 
as  he  has  enough  bread  and  meat  to  keep  him  from  star 
vation,  a  dilapidated  coat  to  his  back,  an  occasional 
dram,  and  the  companionship  of  his  friends.  His  phi 
losophy  is  profound,  but  it  is  the  unconscious  philosophy 
of  a  man  who  is  in  the  lowest  state  of  nature. 


XIV. 

RENTERS  AND   LAND-OWNERS. 

THE  negro  has  an  inclination  towards  agriculture,  even 
apart  from  any  liking  for  it  which  his  life  as  a  laborer 
has  created  and  fostered  ;  this  may,  to  some  extent,  be 
an  inherited  taste  that  had  its  origin  in  the  special  train 
ing  of  the  individuals  of  many  preceding  generations.  It 
has  always  been  observed  in  the  blacks  throughout  Africa. 
It  was  also  noticed  in  the  American  slaves  long  before 
they  were  emancipated.  To  be  allowed  to  have  a  garden, 
or  to  plant  a  few  acres  in  corn,  was  regarded  by  them  as 
a  valuable  privilege,  irrespective  of  the  addition  thus 
made  to  their  comforts  ;  and  the  same  view  is  held  by 
them,  now  that  they  are  free,  and  are  paid  in  wages,  or 
have  a  share  in  the  crop  that  they  produce.  This  incli 
nation  is  detected  not  only  in  the  ordinary  field  hand, 
but  also  in  the  mechanic,  and  the  house  servant,  whose 
duties  have  removed  them  from  the  influences  that  might 
have  been  thought  to  be  the  cause  of  it  in  the  common 
laborer. 

Like  the  peasant  of  every  country,  who  earns  his  bread 
by  tilling  the  soil,  the  negro  has  a  desire  to  possess  land. 
If  unable  to  purchase  it,  he  is  anxious  to  rent  as  much  as 
any  proprietor  is  willing  to  lease  to  him.  Indeed,  he  is 
never  more  contented  than  when  he  has  acquired  tempo 
rary  control  over  a  few  acres  ;  it  can  be  even  said  that 
he  is  happier  situated  thus  than  when  he  owns  land,  for 

211 


212      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

ownership  lays  upon  his  shoulders  the  burden  of  pro 
viding  against  taxation,  besides  leaving  him  without  the 
advice  and  support  of  a  stronger  and  more  experienced 
person.  His  great  satisfaction  as  a  tenant  is  due  to 
various  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  he  lives  in  entire 
freedom  from  the  pressure  of  any  form  of  immediate 
supervision  ;  he  is  not  required  to  make  his  appearance 
in  the  field  at  a  stated  hour,  or  to  perform  any  task  that 
may  be  set  him  at  a  moment's  notice  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  can  go  to  his  work  long  after  the  sun  has  risen,  and 
no  one  will  have  the  power  to  discharge  him  for  his  indo 
lence.  He  can  labor  for  as  short  a  time  as  he  likes,  and 
leave  the  field  whenever  he  chooses  ;  he  may  hoe  one 
day  and  lounge  the  next  ;  or  he  may  plough  during  two  or 
three  days  of  the  seven  then  mount  his  horse  and  visit  a 
neighboring  community,  where  he  can  spend  the  remain 
der  of  the  week.  He  can  take  part  in  excursions,  attend 
court,  hunt,  fish,  or  call  at  the  store,  as  his  passing  mood 
suggests.  This  ability  to  govern  his  own  conduct,  with 
out  being  answerable  to  another's  authority,  is  highly 
valued  by  him,  and  he  makes  the  most  of  it  in  so  many 
ways  that  he  pays  little  heed  to  the  condition  of  his 
business.  In  his  love  of  pleasure  or  in  his  laziness  he 
delays  as  long  as  possible  to  prepare  the  land  for  the 
reception  of  the  seed,  and  when  he  does  put  it  in  order 
it  is  generally  after  an  imperfect  fashion.  He  often  allows 
the  grass  to  spring  up  more  rapidly  than  he  cuts  it  down 
with  the  hoe,  and  every  successive  phase  in  the  growth 
of  his  tobacco  illustrates  the  same  procrastinating  spirit. 
He  shows,  in  the  manipulation  of  his  crop,  after  it  has 
been  stored  away  in  the  barn,  not  only  want  of  proper 
attention,  but  of  ordinary  care  and  skill  ;  and  the  result 
is  that  the  grade  which  he  places  upon  the  market  is 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  21$ 

very  inferior.  In  every  county  where  much  tobacco 
is  produced  by  his  fellow-tenants  there  has  been 
a  conspicuous  decline  in  the  quality  of  the  staple. 
Whether  his  crop,  however,  is  mean  or  excellent,  or 
whether  it  pays  the  expenses  of  cultivation  or  not,  he  is 
so  much  pleased  with  the  independence  of  his  life  that 
he  is  contented  if  he  has  been  able  to  pass  through  the 
year  with  a  fair  degree  of  credit  at  his  store.  He  is 
always  eager  to  renew  his  lease  if  the  owner  of  the  land 
is  willing  to  allow  him  to  do  so,  for  he  is  not  in  the  least 
discouraged  by  the  result  of  his  agricultural  operations 
during  the  previous  twelve  months. 

At  one  time  the  planters  were  disposed  to  rent  much 
of  their  land  to  negroes  on  shares,  the  general  terms 
being  that,  if  the  proprietor  furnished  teams,  forage,  and 
implements,  and  cabin  and  fuel  for  tenant  and  his  family, 
he  was  to  receive  one  half  to  three  fourths  of  what  was 
made,  the  proportion  varying  with  the  fertility  of  the 
soil,  the  character  of  the  crops,  and  other  similar  condi 
tions.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  tenant  supplied  the 
teams  and  implements,  which  he  was  rarely  able  to  do 
on  account  of  his  poverty,  the  proprietor  was  paid  from 
one  fourth  to  one  third  of  the  products.  If  the  former 
only  leased  as  many  acres  as  he  could  cultivate  himself, 
without  the  need  of  assistance  in  any  form,  the  land 
owner  was  satisfied  if  he  secured  an  amount  that  would 
cover  the  rental  of  the  cabin.  So  far  has  the  system 
of  leasing  to  the  negroes  failed  in  consequence  of  their 
carelessness,  indolence,  and  unreliability,  that  there  has 
been  a  great  decline  in  its  popularity.  A  proprietor  rents 
to  them  now  only  as  a  last  resort.  This  is  one  of  the  many 
instances  of  how  much  their  unhappy  qualities  stand  in 
the  way  of  their  material  improvement,  and  how  unequal 


214      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

they  are  to  taking  advantage  of  the  most  favorable  oppor 
tunities.  If  they  were  distinguished  for  prudence,  judg 
ment,  and  energy ;  if  they  would  devote  their  whole  time 
and  attention  to  the  business  in  which  they  are  engaged  ; 
if  they  had,  when  left  to  themselves,  any  capacity  for  ac 
quiring  skill  in  that  business,  by  the  closest  study  of  its 
requirements  they  could  place  themselves  in  a  few  years 
in  an  independent  position  by  renting  land  and  cultivat 
ing  tobacco.  Land  indeed  is  so  abundant  that  its  owners 
would  be  glad  to  add  to  their  incomes  by  leasing  many 
acres,  that  would  otherwise  lie  idle,  to  colored  tenants 
who  could  be  relied  upon  to  use  the  soil  well  and  pay 
rent  with  some  degree  of  certainty  ;  but  whoever  leases 
to  a  negro  understands  that  it  signifies  the  further  im 
poverishment  of  the  soil,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is  doubt 
ful  whether  there  will  be  obtained  in  return  a  sum  equal 
to  its  annual  depreciation  in  quality.  The  proprietor  is 
hampered  by  the  presence  of  a  lessee  whom  he  cannot 
directly  supervise  and  control,  and  whose  lax  habits  are 
calculated  to  exercise  a  bad  influence  over  the  laborers 
who  are  in  the  proprietor's  employment.  These  laborers 
observe  that  the  tenant  has  much  time  at  his  disposal,  in 
which  he  can  do  precisely  what  his  inclinations  lead  him 
to  do  ;  they  see  him  directing  his  own  hands,  for  he  has 
to  hire  a  couple  or  more,  or  they  notice  him  riding  lei 
surely  about  on  his  own  horse.  The  enjoyment  of  so 
much  independence,  as  well  as  of  so  much  importance,  by 
one  of  their  own  race,  who,  they  are  aware,  is  no  better 
off  in  the  point  of  capital  than  they  are,  has  the  effect  of 
raising  their  envy  and,  in  a  certain  measure,  of  demoral 
izing  them. 

The  greatest  injury  which  a  planter  can  inflict  upon 
the  interests  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  is  to 


CENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  21$ 

rent  the  whole  of  his  estate  in  small  lots  to  colored  ten 
ants,  especially  if  he  abandons  his  home  permanently  to 
dwell  elsewhere,  leaving  his  property  entirely  in  their 
hands.  The  quality  of  the  soil  begins  at  once  to  depre 
ciate  from  improper  usage  and  careless  cultivation  ;  the 
buildings  and  fences  soon  fall  out  of  order  from  natural 
decay  or  the  depredations  of  pilferers  ;  the  teams  de 
cline  to  the  poorest  condition  ;  the  crops  produced  are 
of  an  inferior  quality.  But  this  is  not  all  :  such  an 
estate  soon  becomes  the  safe  harbor  of  all  the  depraved 
negroes  in  the  vicinity  ;  the  vicious  habits  of  the  women 
and  men  alike  increase  owing  to  their  removal  from  the 
control  of  the  proprietor  ;  thievish  and  superstitious 
practices  are  more  common  and  open,  and  brawls  and 
quarrels  arise  more  often  than  elsewhere.  The  relations 
of  the  inhabitants  with  the  whites  in  the  surrounding 
country  grow  strained  and  hostile,  and  their  bearing  in 
solent.  In  short,  within  the  narrow  confines  of  one 
plantation,  we  observe  all  the  unfortunate  effects  which 
the  isolation  of  the  negroes  to  themselves  invariably  has 
upon  their  disposition  and  conduct  in  every  locality. 

Many  of  the  negroes  who  have  acquired  land  of  their 
own  in  fee  simple  appear  to  more  advantage  than  those 
who  simply  rent  it  from  white  proprietors.  One  explana 
tion  of  this  is,  that  the  latter  act  is  very  frequently  a 
mere  device  of  indolence,  the  chief  object  of  the  lessee 
being  to  escape  from  that  protracted  drudgery  and  un 
broken  routine  to  which  a  common  laborer  on  a  planta 
tion  has  to  submit.  He  wishes  to  shape  his  own  con 
duct  untrammelled  by  that  authority  to  which  he  would 
be  subjected  as  a  mere  employe  ;  in  other  words,  he  de 
sires  to  be  in  a  position  in  which  he  can  work  or  idle 
away  his  time  just  as  he  may  prefer.  As  a  renter  he  is 


2l6      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

at  liberty  to  follow  the  promptings  of  his  moods  as  they 
rise,  and  hence  it  is  a  condition  that  his  easy  disposition 
holds  in  high  appreciation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact 
that  a  negro  is  a  land-owner  is  a  proof,  as  a  rule,  that  he 
is  superior  in  certain  qualities  of  his  character  to  the 
great  mass  of  his  race.  He  may  not  be  stricter  in 
morals  or  brighter  in  mind,  but  he  is  likely  to  be 
sounder  in  judgment,  and  to  have  more  power  of  self- 
control.  To  hoard  sufficient  money  to  buy  even  a  few 
acres,  however  cheaply  they  can  be  purchased,  is  fair 
evidence  that  he  is  comparatively  steady  and  economical 
in  his  habits,  prudent  and  careful  in  his  views,  and, 
above  all,  not  only  animated  by  ambition  to  improve  his 
fortunes,  an  ambition  shared  by  many  of  his  people  in  a 
fluctuating  way,  but  also  (and  this  is  far  more  important, 
and  it  is  rarely  remarked  among  his  fellows)  that  he  has 
self-restraint  enough  to  realize  that  ambition.  A  man 
who  has  such  aspirations,  associated  with  sufficient 
strength  of  purpose  to  carry  them  into  effect,  is  apt  to  dis 
play,  when  he  comes  into  possession  of  an  estate  of  his 
own,  the  same  practical  qualities  that  enabled  him  to 
secure  it, — qualities  that  may  lead  to  successful  manage 
ment.  The  flower  of  the  race  is  to  be  found  among 
these  small  land-owners,  men  who  alone  in  the  vast  swarm 
of  negroes  who  darken  the  country  like  an  ominous 
cloud,  give  us  the  least  confidence  in  its  capacity. 

When  we  examine  the  best  type  of  these  colored  pro 
prietors,  we  find  them,  almost  without  exception,  to  be 
freedmen  of  simple  tastes,  who  were  trained  to  be  in 
dustrious,  regular,  and  vigilant  by  the  discipline  that 
prevailed  on  the  plantations  under  the  regime  of  slavery. 
In  many  instances  they  were  foremen,  and  were  thus 
accustomed  not  only  to  command  and  superintend, 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  21? 

but  to  bear  the  weight  of  responsibility,  a  still 
more  useful  form  of  education.  This  experience  was 
of  inestimable  service  to  them  when  emancipation  threw 
them  on  their  own  resources.  Having  been  habituated 
to  the  plain  style  of  life  that  had  been  enforced  among 
them  before  they  were  freed,  they  had  no  desire  to  throw, 
their  earnings  away  in  luxuries  which  they  could  not 
afford  to  purchase  with  their  narrow  wages.  By  laying 
aside  a  few  dollars  each  month,  they  soon  accumulated 
enough  to  buy  small  areas  of  land  on  the  ridges  that 
extend  back  from  the  watercourses  ;  this  land  they  were 
able  to  acquire  at  very  low  rates,  as  it  was  quite  worth 
less  for  the  production  of  any  crop  except  tobacco,  which, 
also,  could  only  be  cultivated  there  with  the  assistance  of 
fertilizers.  On  soil  that  is  apparently  too  thin  to  sustain 
much  growth  of  any  kind,  a  fine  quality  of  this  staple 
can  be  raised  with  the  aid  of  artificial  manure.  It  was 
due  to  this  fact  alone  that  the  various  purchases  of  these 
freedmen  were  not  wholly  without  value.  The  ground 
along  the  rivers  and  smaller  streams  was  held  at  such  a 
high  price  an  acre,  that  not  one  among  them  was  able 
to  buy  it,  however  careful  and  industrious,  and,  in  con 
sequence,  they  were  compelled  to  settle  on  the  high 
lands.  This  is  the  character  of  the  tracts  that  even  the 
most  thrifty  own.  These  tracts  range  from  five  to  a  hun 
dred  acres,  some  of  them  being  in  a  fair  state  of  culti 
vation  in  spite  of  their  inferior  quality  ;  the  proprietors, 
in  consequence  of  the  training  they  received  as  slaves, 
comparing  quite  favorably  in  their  methods  and  manage 
ment  with  the  class  of  small  white  planters.  The  estates 
of  the  freedmen  who  are  most  alert,  thoughtful,  and  dili 
gent  are  occasionally  found  to  be  as  well  appointed  in 
the  way  of  barns,  cribs,  and  stables  as  the  estates  of  their 


218       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

white  neighbors,  their  teams  in  as  high  order,  their  fences 
in  as  good  repair,  and  their  tobacco  crops  as  flourishing. 
The  houses  in  which  they  live  are  plainly  but  substan 
tially  built ;  an  effort  at  some  adornment  is  often  de 
tected  both  within  and  without  them,  the  aspect  of  the 
surroundings  being  generally  indicative  of  a  consider 
able  degree  of  comfort  and  prosperity. 

An  interest  in  land  has,  in  a  measure,  had  a  beneficial 
effect  on  the  more  intelligent  of  the  negro  proprietors. 
In  the  first  place,  they  have  been  forced  to  take  the 
future  into  account,  which  has  tended  to  inculcate  habits 
of  prudence.  They  also  know  that  idleness  signifies 
that  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  for  them  to  be  sold 
out  by  the  public  auctioneer  for  delinquent  taxes  ;  and 
this  has  been  calculated  to  make  them  both  industrious 
and  assiduous,  apart  from  the  mere  necessity  of  earning 
a  livelihood  for  themselves  and  their  families.  The  re 
sponsibility  which  the  exclusive  care  of  their  property 
places  on  their  shoulders  has  given  them  little  time  to 
plume  themselves  on  their  superiority  to  the  rest  of  their 
people.  That  flighty  vanity  observed  in  their  fellows, 
with  few  exceptions,  when  elevated  into  importance,  has 
not  been  so  noticeable  in  them,  for  their  position  is  more 
or  less  a  precarious  one,  as  it  is  dependent  upon  their 
own  diligence  and  judgment  whether  they  can  sustain 
themselves.  And  if  they  have  these  sober  qualities  they 
are  not  apt  to  fall  into  a  foolish  conceit. 

The  more  successful  the  colored  land-owner  is,  the 
keener  his  appreciation  of  the  stake  that  he  has  in  the 
condition  of  the  community  is  apt  to  be.  The  most  re 
spectable  of  these  proprietors  are,  in  fact,  the  only  men 
among  the  negroes  who  seem  to  realize  what  citizen 
ship  means.  The  masses  of  the  race  are  as  alien  to 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  2IQ 

the  soil  as  if  they  had  just  arrived  from  some  foreign 
shore,  with  all  their  peculiarities  as  a  foreign  people  still 
distinct,  and  feeling  no  concern  about  the  prosperity  of 
their  adopted  country,  on  account  of  their  ignorance  of 
its  needs.  They  pay  no  taxes  of  any  importance ;  ap 
parently  to  them  the  administration  of  the  government 
does  not  touch  them  at  all,  because  it  does  not  sensibly 
affect  their  selfish  interests.  But  with  the  owner  of  a  large 
number  of  acres,  the  case  is  likely  to  be  different ;  his  un 
derstanding  must  be  strangely  obtuse  if  he  does  not  see 
very  clearly  how  intimately  his  own  financial  condition  is 
associated  with  the  general  welfare  of  his  community  ; 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  most  intelligent 
of  these  colored  proprietors  perceive  this,  and  are,  in 
consequence,  more  thoughtful  as  citizens  than  they  would 
otherwise  be.  Those  among  them  who  are  skilful  and 
successful,  as  well  as  sober  and  conservative,  are  regarded 
with  respect  by  the  whites,  and  are  treated  in  personal 
intercourse  as  entitled  to  it.  There  is  no  prejudice 
against  such  men  on  account  of  their  good-fortune  ;  on 
the  contrary,  there  is  an  earnest  desire  among  the  most 
influential  members  of  the  ruling  class  that  the  same 
qualities  shall  be  exhibited  by  others,  leading  to  the  same 
acquisition  of  land  and  to  a  similar  success  in  its  manage 
ment,  for  not  until  the  negro  becomes  a  property  holder, 
not  until  he  has  an  interest  in  the  soil,  do  the  whites  ex 
pect  to  see  him  an  estimable  citizen,  as  much  concerned 
as  they  are  in  a  just  and  economical  administration  of 
public  affairs,  both  State  and  local.  While  it  is  recog 
nized  that  it  is  comparatively  rare  that  individuals  of  the 
race  have  the  capacity  or  the  character  to  accumulate 
such  property,  yet  it  is  hoped  that  those  who  succeed  in 
doing  so  will  form  in  time  a  body  of  men  who  will  not 


220      THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

only  exert  much  influence  by  the  example  they  set,  but 
will  also  have  power  to  restrain  those  elements  among 
their  own  people  from  which  so  much  is  to  be  feared. 

Although  a  few  colored  land-owners  are  found  who  are 
as  successful  as  the  majority  of  the  smaller  planters 
among  the  whites,  yet  only  too  many  fail  in  their  annual 
operations,  not  so  much  from  indifference  to  their  own 
interests,  which  is  infrequently  remarked,  as  it  is  neces 
sary  that  they  shall  work  to  retain  the  property  that  they 
have,  but  rather  from  ignorance  of  correct  methods  of 
tillage,  and  from  a  lack  of  means  with  which  to  purchase 
(the  required  manures.  A  more  striking  example  of 
meanness  of  fortune  is  rarely  observed  than  that  pre 
sented  by  many  of  this  class  of  negroes  who  have  in 
vested  their  little  savings  in  a  few  acres  that  lie  on  the 
backbone  of  a  vast  ridge,  far  removed  from  every  stream 
and  apparently  from  all  trace  of  civilization.  Here,  in 
the  midst  of  the  stunted  forest,  or  at  the  edge  of  fields 
that  have  been  abandoned  as  too  impoverished  to  pro 
duce  any  kind  of  crop,  and  almost  too  poor  to  nourish  a 
growth  of  briars  or  broomstraw,  these  indigent  house 
holders  have  erected  primitive  shanties  and  stables  of 
logs  and  sticks.  Their  rude  carts  are  of  their  own  manu 
facture,  with  the  exception  of  the  wheels  ;  their  teams 
consist  of  brindled  oxen  from  the  pine  barrens  and 
spavined  mules  which  they  have  bought  for  a  few  dollars 
from  the  planters  or  at  public  auction  ;  their  plows  are 
old  and  broken  ;  their  harness  partly  leather  and  partly 
rope  ;  their  forage,  the  shucks  and  tops  of  such  corn  as 
they  have  been  able  to  raise.  Their  land,  to  produce 
even  a  scanty  subsistence,  must  have  the  aid  of  fer 
tilizers.  As  they  are  unable  to  buy  the  artificial  manures, 
it  is  often  difficult  to  understand  how  they  and  their 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  221 

families  eke  out  an  existence.  Maize  will  not  spring  up 
with  any  vigor  in  such  soil  as  they  own,  and  even  in  the 
most  favorable  season  will  form  only  the  smallest  nub 
bins.  Their  only  hope  lies  in  tobacco,  and  they  culti 
vate  this  without  being  discouraged  by  the  most  meagre 
returns.  They,  their  wives,  and  children,  tattered,  un 
wholesome,  and  forlorn  in  appearance,  will  be  seen  tilling 
their  little  patches,  the  plants  of  which  do  not  hide  the 
surface  of  the  ground  from  view.  By  the  crops  which 
they  thus  secure,  with  the  addition  of  the  few  vegetables 
which  they  obtain  from  their  gardens,  and  of  the  animals 
that  they  trap  or  shoot  in  the  neighboring  woods,  they 
keep  their  families  alive,  but  the  struggle  to  do  so  is 
harsh  and  continuous,  and  barely  successful.  And  yet, 
precarious  as  their  means  and  wretched  as  their  sur 
roundings  are,  they  would  not  change  their  situation. 
They  prefer  to  live  as  they  do,  striving  for  a  scanty  sup 
port  on  their  own  land,  where  they  are  at  liberty  to  act 
as  they  choose,  to  working  on  the  most  extensive  and 
prosperous  of  the  adjacent  plantations,  although  they 
know  that  there  they  will  be  promptly  paid  fair  wages, 
that  they  will  have  comfortable  cabins,  large  gardens,  an 
abundance  of  fuel  and  nutritious  food,  and  the  society 
of  several  hundred  people  of  their  own  color.  They 
share  this  feeling  with  all  the  individuals  of  their  race  in 
whom  the  agricultural  instinct  is  developed  to  an  unusual 
degree,  and  who,  with  few  exceptions,  would  settle  in 
the  most  inaccessible  spots,  on  narrow  and  impoverished 
tracts  of  land,  rather  than  enjoy  the  most  liberal  com 
pensation  for  their  toil,  as  well  as  valuable  privileges  as 
laborers  in  the  employment  of  the  planters  and  under 
the  supervision  of  overseers.  They  are  influenced  in  this 
preference  by  the  independence  of  the  life  which  they 


222      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

would  lead  on  their  own  estates,  and  also  by  that  irregu 
larity  of  effort  which  it  permits. 

The  negroes  of  the  tobacco  region  of  Virginia  have, 
since  their  emancipation,  been  afforded  the  most  favor 
able  opportunities  of  improving  their  condition  by  pur 
chasing  land.  Its  cheapness  has  put  it  in  the  power  of 
every  laborer  to  secure  a  small  homestead,  that  could  be 
made  sufficiently  productive  to  enable  him  to  support 
his  family,  and  even  to  accumulate  some  capital.  It 
is  the  planter  who  owns  a  few  hundred  acres  rather 
than  a  thousand  or  more,  who  has  found  the  culture 
of  tobacco  most  profitable,  because  he  can  till  his  soil 
and  manipulate  his  crop  more  economically,  as  his 
working  force  is  principally  furnished  by  the  members 
of  his  own  family,  and  he  can  give  every  detail  of  his 
business  his  personal  supervision.  Up  to  the  present 
day  the  negro  laborers  have,  perhaps,  been  in  receipt  of 
more  money l  than  any  other  class  of  the  community  ; 
and  if  they  had  saved  even  a  portion  of  their  earnings, 
it  could  have  been  invested  to  the  greatest  advantage 
in  the  land,  which  the  revolution  in  the  general  eco 
nomic  system,  produced  by  the  civil  war,  threw  upon 
the  market.  If  there  had  been  any  demand  for  such 
land  on  their  part,  they  could  have  readily  bought  it  at 
the  lowest  prices.  There  were  few  owners  of  estates  off 
the  watercourses  who  would  not  have  consented  to  sell 
many  acres,  in  order  to  contract  the  size  of  properties 
that  had  always  been  too  large,  as  well  as  to  obtain  cash  ; 
and  yet  such  opportunities  of  improving  their  condition 
at  the  very  time  that  these  opportunities  have  been 
fairest,  have  not  been  utilized  by  the  masses  of  the 
blacks,  not  because  they  have  failed  to  observe  them,  but 
1  In  the  form  of  wages. 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  22$ 

because  they  have  not  had  the  qualities  to  provide  the 
purchase  money  that  was  necessary.  When  we  consider 
the  extravagance  and  carelessness  of  the  race,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  why  its  members  continue  poor  in  the  midst 
of  those  excellent  openings  for  establishing  themselves  in 
permanent  comfort  that  exist  even  now.  The  monthly 
account  of  each  one  with  his  merchant  discloses  how  far 
such  sums  as  he  has  earned  have  been  thoughtlessly 
expended,  which,  if  they  had  only  been  carefully  laid  by, 
would  in  time  have  enabled  him  to  buy  many  acres  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  cabin  in  which  he  lived.  The 
golden  period  of  the  negro,  with  respect  to  his  ability  to 
secure  valuable  tracts,  has  been  the  last  twenty  years 
when  the  depression  in  real  estate  has  been  greatest,  in 
consequence  of  the  transmitted  influences  of  the  war. 
An  advance  in  this  interest  has  now  begun,1  and  this  ad 
vance  has  been  most  noticeable  in  land  that  fifteen  years 
ago  was  regarded  as  worthless,  on  account  of  the  thinness 
of  the  soil  ;  this  being  due  to  the  fact  that  such  soil  has 
been  found  to  be  suitable  for  the  production  of  the  most 
profitable  varieties  of  tobacco.  An  acre  that  formerly 
sold  for  two  dollars,  has,  in  some  counties,  risen  in  value 
to  fifteen.  Many  estates  can  still  be  bought  at  the 
former  rate,  but  for  the  most  part  they  barely  yield  a 
subsistence.  They  are  not  adapted  to  the  finer  kinds  of 
tobacco,  for  if  they  were,  they  would  be  held  at  the 
highest  price  ;  they  are  not  fertile  enough  for  wheat  and 
corn,  no  manure  being  used  in  producing  these  crops. 

An  increase  in  the  number  of  small  white  planters 
will  diminish  the  ability  of  the  negro  to  buy  estates,  be 
cause  such  increase  implies  an  advance  in  the  price  of 

1  The  general  advance  is  due  to  the  demand  for  land  among  small 
white  planters  who  have  accumulated  ready  money. 


224      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

land,  upon  which  the  prosperity  of  the  white  people  must 
always  rest.  This  will  only  render  it  more  difficult  than 
ever  for  the  blacks  to  acquire  it.  If  few  were  able  to 
make  purchases  in  the  period  of  the  greatest  depression 
of  prices,  that  is,  in  the  course  of  the  last  two  decades, 
the  probability  is  that  still  fewer  will  be  able  to  do  so  in 
the  future,  on  account  of  the  general  rise  in  valuations 
that  will  attend  an  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the 
whites.  So  far  as  can  be  observed,  the  race  is  not  more 
economical  after  twenty  years  of  freedom  than  it  was 
after  five,  or  even  ten  ;  and  its  habits  are  not  likely 
to  change  with  the  progress  of  time.  There  is  also 
another  fact  that  points  to  the  improbability  of  its  mem 
bers  obtaining  possession  of  much  real  property  in  the 
future,  namely,  the  remarkable  disparity  at  the  present 
day  between  the  number  of  land-owners  among  the 
freedmen,  and  the  number  of  land-owners  among  the 
members  of  the  generation  that  has  reached  maturity 
since  the  close  of  the  war.  The  largest  proportion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  every  community  of  the  race  belong 
distinctively  to  the  period  of  freedom  ;  negroes  who 
were  ten  years  old  when  emancipated,  and  who,  there 
fore,  could  not  have  been  very  much  affected  by  the 
influences  of  slavery,  have  now  arrived  at  middle  age  ; 
children  have  sprung  up  to  manhood  who  have  no  recol 
lection  whatever  of  that  institution  ;  indeed  the  majority 
of  all  the  active  men,  who  are  either  laborers,  mechanics, 
or  teachers,  at  the  present  time,  can  be  said  to  have  no 
knowledge  of  any  other  system  except  that  which  has 
prevailed  during  the  course  of  the  last  twenty  years. 
Their  characters  have  been  moulded,  and  their  habits 
formed  under  the  pressure  of  the  new  era  alone.  And 
yet  the  number  of  those,  of  whom  this  is  true  who  are 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  22$ 

owners  of  small  tracts  even,  is  remarkably  insignificant 
as  compared  with  the  number  of  proprietors  who  were 
trained  in  early  life  under  the  old  regime.1  In  wide 
sections  of  country,  where,  in  the  aggregate,  a  consider 
able  extent  of  soil  is  held  by  the  blacks,  there  are  few 
land-owners  to  be  found  who  have  not  passed  their 
fiftieth  year,  unless  they  have  inherited  their  little  farms 
or  plantations  from  their  fathers,  who  were  once  slaves. 
The  members  of  the  race  who  have  hoarded  enough  to 
buy  small  estates,  have  been  able  to  do  so  in  most 
instances,  because  they  have  occupied  positions  of  re 
sponsibility  on  the  larger  plantations,  to  which  higher 
wages  than  usual  are  attached.  Such  positions  have 
been  open  to  men  who  have  grown  up  since  1865,  as 
well  as  to  the  freedmen,  but  even  when  the  former  have 
risen  to  these  positions,  they  have  not  been  distinguished, 
on  the  whole,  for  the  same  degree  of  prudence  and 
economy  as  the  latter. 

The  disproportion  in  the  number  of  land-owners  of 
the  older  and  younger  generations  respectively  is  due 
to  various  causes.  It  is  due,  in  the  first  place,  to  the 
fact  that  emancipation  itself  has  exercised  a  powerful 
stimulating  influence  over  the  general  conduct  of  the 
former  slave.  His  mere  recollection  of  his  condition 
before  he  was  set  at  liberty  must  have  inspired  him  with 
a  strong  desire  to  improve  his  fortunes  even  beyond 
those  advantages  which  freedom  in  itself  alone  conferred. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  individual  of  the  new  era  has  no 
remembrance  of  slavery  as  an  institution.  As  he  has 
been  free  from  childhood,  no  other  condition  is  known 
to  him.  There  has  been  no  great  revolution  in  his  life, 

1  The  number  of  younger  proprietors  is  very  insignificant,  even 
when  regarded  separately. 


226       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

for  he  cannot  recall  a  time  when  he  was  aware  that  he 
was  the  absolute  chattel  of  another  man.  From  the 
hour  he  came  of  age  he  has  been  working  under  contract 
for  various  employers,  and  he  is  content  to  continue  to 
do  so. 

A  still  more  obvious  explanation  of  the  success  of  the 
freedman  is  that  fact  to  which  I  have  already  referred  at 
various  times — namely,  that  he  was  subjected  at  the  most 
plastic  and  responsive  period  of  his  existence  to  the  strict 
discipline  of  slavery,  which  cultivated  in  him  industrious 
habits,  regularity  of  life,  and  simple  tastes  ;  above  all,  it 
repressed  in  him  that  fickle  spirit  which  is  so  marked  in 
his  race,  when  its  individuals  are  allowed  the  greatest 
latitude  of  action.  It  is  the  restlessness  of  the  later 
generations  that  stand  so  much  in  the  way  of  their  im 
provement,  for  it  increases  their  natural  tendency  to 
extravagance  and  improvidence,  besides  leading  to  an 
augmentation  of  their  necessary  expenses.  To  lay  aside 
any  part  of  their  wages  after  paying  all  that  they  are 
forced  to  spend,  demands  of  them  the  most  careful 
watch  over  their  conduct,  the  most  vigilant  repression  of 
their  appetites,  the  highest  prudence  and  economy  in  the 
management  of  their  affairs  ;  and  this  circumspection 
and  discretion  must  be  exercised  daily  and  hourly.  To 
accumulate  even  a  fair  amount,  situated  as  they  are,  and 
with  their  narrow  resources,  might  well  tax  men  of  the 
most  parsimonious  habits  and  the  greatest  practical 
sagacity.  How  much  more  difficult  for  themselves,  who 
have  small  knowledge  of  any  form  of  self-restraint,  and 
little  appreciation  of  the  possible  consequences  of  their 
acts  !  Unhappy  characteristics  are  far  more  logical  in 
their  operation  than  those  that  are  happy.  As  the  most 
unfortunate  qualities  of  the  race  are  found  more  fully 


RENTERS  AND  LAND-OWNERS.  22? 

developed  in  individuals  of  the  new  generation  than  in 
their  fathers,  because  these  individuals  have  never  been 
brought  under  careful  discipline,  their  worst  traits  having 
thus  had  full  room  for  growth,  the  result  has  been  that 
they  own  little  property  of  any  kind,  although  they  live 
in  a  country  and  at  a  period  when  land  is  still  selling  at 
rates  at  which  it  can  be  easily  purchased  by  them  if  they 
show  any  self-denial.  Prolonged  effort  and  sober  habits 
are  absolutely  essential  to  their  success  ;  they  are  largely 
lacking  in  these  traits  now,  and  there  is  little  to  foster 
these  traits  in  the  future.  In  the  meanwhile,  any  rise  in 
the  prosperity  of  the  community  only  obstructs  still 
further  the  improvement  of  their  condition  by  means  of 
the  cheapness  of  the  soil,  since  any  increase  in  that 
prosperity  must  be  based,  as  I  have  stated,  upon  an 
advance  in  real  estate. 


XV. 

V 

MECHANICS. 

BEFORE  slavery  was  abolished,  every  plantation  that 
extended  over  a  large  area,  and  the  agricultural  opera 
tions  of  which  were  conducted  on  an  important  scale, 
was  supplied  with  mechanics  from  the  ranks  of  the 
negroes  attached  to  it.  Each  blacksmith,  carpenter, 
wheelwright,  and  mason  belonged,  as  a  rule,  to  the 
planter  for  whom  they  were  engaged  in  working.  It  was 
the  custom  to  select  those  young  men,  who,  from  their 
intelligence,  appeared  to  be  most  likely  to  become  skilful 
in  such  trades,  and  to  apprentice  them  to  the  various 
handicraftsmen  who  were  employed  in  the  plantation 
workshops,  by  whom  they  were  trained,  and  under  whose 
supervision  they  continued  until  death  or  old  age  re 
moved  the  instructors,  whose  place  they  then  took, 
teaching  in  their  turn  young  men  of  promise.  The  field 
of  these  mechanics,  however,  was  not  one  in  which  they 
could  acquire  the  highest  dexterity  and  ingenuity  in 
their  respective  pursuits,  admitting  that  they  were  care 
ful  and  exact  enough  in  character  to  do  so  under  favor 
able  circumstances.  Their  attention  was  confined 
entirely  to  the  common  requirements  of  the  plantation  : 
the  duty  of  the  smith,  for  instance,  being  to  shoe  the 
mules  and  horses,  to  make  and  mend  tires,  and  to  rivet 
bolts  ;  the  mason  having  to  lay  and  cement  the  founda 
tions  of  barns  and  stables,  and  to  raise  stone  walls ;  the 

228 


MECHANICS.  229 

carpenters  to  build  cabins  and  sheds,  shingle  roofs,  and 
construct  hogsheads.  They  rarely  passed  to  more  diffi 
cult  forms  of  work  in  their  special  lines,  as  they  had  not 
the  necessary  experience.  When  complicated  machinery 
got  out  of  order,  or  parts  of  manufactured  farm  imple 
ments  were  broken  or  destroyed,  and  had  to  be  replaced, 
or  when  houses  were  to  be  erected  after  ambitious 
architectural  designs,  it  was  generally  necessary  to  secure 
the  services  of  white  men  who  followed  their  trades  in 
the  neighboring  towns.  And  yet  within  the  limits  of 
their  capacity,  no  slaves  played  a  more  useful  part  in  the 
economy  of  the  plantation  than  the  black  mechanics  ; 
they  were  really  indispensable,  as  a  serious  emergency 
might  arise  at  any  moment  when  their  skill  and  knowl 
edge  would  have  to  be  applied  with  the  greatest  prompt 
ness  to  prevent  delay  in  the  progress  of  the  agricultural 
operations.  The  larger  estates  were  so  isolated  locally, 
and  their  respective  communities  were  so  distinct,  that 
it  would  have  been  inconvenient  for  the  planters  to  have 
hired  their  mechanics  to  each  other  by  the  job,  even  if 
each  planter  had  not  always  needed  those  he  owned. 
Under  the  old  system,  however,  many  negroes  were 
trained  in  handicraft  with  a  view  to  hiring  them  out  per 
manently,  as  the  compensation  for  their  services  returned 
a  very  fair  percentage  on  their  value  as  slaves.  These 
men  were  obtained  under  the  terms  of  regular  contracts, 
being  provided  for,  however,  as  if  they  belonged  to  the 
persons  who  engaged  them.  Many  of  them  were  taken 
to  the  cities,  where  they  were  often  employed  in  doing 
much  more  important  work  than  would  have  been 
assigned  to  them  on  a  plantation.  In  general,  however, 
they  were  found  in  the  country  villages  and  towns,  or  on 
the  smaller  estates  whose  proprietors  had  comparatively 


230       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

few  slaves.  A  majority  of  the  negroes  who  were  manu 
mitted,  either  by  will  or  in  the  lives  of  their  owners, 
adopted  the  trades  as  a  means  of  earning  a  subsistence, 
but  in  many  respects  their  position,  even  when  they  were 
skilful  and  energetic,  was  very  unfortunate.  They  could 
not  secure  employment  on  the  extensive  plantations 
since  these  were  supplied  with  their  own  mechanics  ;  it' 
was  difficult  for  them  to  compete  with  the  individuals  of 
their  race  who  were  hired  out  permanently  or  by  the 
job,  and  in  the  towns  and  cities  they  had  to  contend  not 
only  with  prejudice,  but  also  with  the  rivalry  of  white 
men.  In  the  midst  of  all  these  obstacles  it  is  not  sur 
prising  that  they  did  not  thrive. 

Emancipation  had  the  same  general  effect  on  the 
mechanics  as  upon  every  distinct  class  of  the  negroes  ; 
they,  too,  showed  at  once  that  restless  spirit  which  took 
possession  of  the  other  individuals  of  the  race.  Their 
desertion  of  the  localities  where  they  had  always  dwelt 
virtually  meant,  in  most  instances,  the  abandonment  of 
the  trades  to  which  they  had  been  trained  by  so  many 
years  of  experience.  Those  who  desired  to  continue  in 
these  trades  were  not  always  able  to  obtain  employment 
after  they  had  removed  elsewhere,  and  in  the  necessity  of 
earning  a  support  they  were  forced  to  turn  their  hands 
to  the  first  job  of  any  kind  that  presented  itself.  Those 
who  remained  where  they  had  always  lived,  found  that 
there  was  not  the  same  demand  for  their  skill  under  the 
new  order  of  things  as  there  had  been  under  the  old, 
since  few  planters  could  afford  the  cost  of  permanently 
employing  negroes  whose  only  duty  was  to  act  as  com 
mon  mechanics.  In  the  general  curtailment  of  expenses 
their  services  were  the  first  to  be  dispensed  with,  as  the 
mechanical  work  of  each  plantation  could  be  done  as  it 


MECHANICS.  231 

arose  by  men  who  had  opened  shops  in  the  neighbor 
hood. 

Many  of  the  freedmen  decided  to  abandon  their 
trades,  because  they  objected  to  leading  a  life  of  con 
finement  ;  the  labor  was  arduous  as  well  as  continuous, 
and  they  shrank  from  pursuits  that  occupied  their  time 
so  much  as  well  as  taxed  their  energies  so  heavily.  In 
many  instances,  too,  they  had  adopted  these  pursuits, 
not  from  a  natural  bent  in  that  direction,  but  simply  at 
the  command  of  their  masters  ;  in  dropping  them,  there 
fore,  they  were  merely  conforming  to  a  long-repressed 
wish.  The  negroes  who  now  attend  to  the  mechanical 
needs  of  the  different  plantations  are  men  who  have  es 
tablished  themselves  near  the  country  stores,  or  at  the 
crossing  of  two  public  roads,  or  wherever  there  is  a  site 
that  is  convenient  to  travellers,  or  to  the  people  of  sev 
eral  large  communities.  Their  shops  are  generally  prim 
itive  shanties,  and  supplied  only  with  the  old-fashioned 
tools  and  appliances  of  their  trade.  Smithies  are  those 
most  frequently  observed.  The  principal  customers  of 
the  blacksmiths  are  the  planters  in  their  vicinity  whose 
horses  and  mules  they  shoe,  or  the  iron  of  whose  wagon 
bodies  and  wheels  they  mend,  but  they  are  also  patron 
ized  by  the  strange  teamsters  who  pass  along  the  public 
roads  or  stop  to  rest  at  the  country  stores. 

The  shops  of  the  carpenters  and  wheelwrights  (which 
are  always  similarly  situated)  are  usually  occupied  by 
white  men,  unless  negroes  who  have  been  educated  in 
industrial  schools,  have  selected  these  localities  as  the 
places  where  they  decide  to  set  up  in  their  trades,  but 
it  is  rare  that  we  find  there  freedmen  who  were  trained 
under  the  old  system,  because  at  the  present  day  the 
rural  carpenters  and  wheelwrights  do  all  the  work  in 


232       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  ASA  FREEMAN. 

their  respective  lines  in  a  wide  section  of  country,  and, 
therefore,  must  have  a  higher  skill  and  a  more  thorough 
knowledge  than  is  possessed  by  the  men  who,  as  slaves, 
were  only  taught  to  meet  the  most  ordinary  plantation 
requirements. 

Colored  masons  are  not  very  numerous  outside  of  the 
towns  and  cities,  since  their  trade  is  one  that  does  not 
offer  very  much  employment  in  rural  communities  ;  such 
stonework  as  has  to  be  done  in  the  erection  of  houses 
being  performed  by. the  men  who  put  the  frames  together. 

While  the  number  of  mechanics  who  were  instructed 
as  slaves  has  been  curtailed,  not  only  by  the  withdrawal 
to  other  pursuits,  of  many  who  were  thus  educated,  but 
by  the  operation  of  natural  causes  during  the  course  of 
twenty  years,  nevertheless  the  places  which  they  vacated 
have  not  been  filled  to  any  great  extent  by  members  of 
the  generation  that  has  been  accustomed  only  to  the 
influences  of  freedom.  Indeed,  one  of  the  most  dis 
couraging  features  of  the  character  of  the  negroes  who 
have  grown  up  since  the  war  is  their  extreme  aversion 
to  the  mechanical  trades.  Very  few  of  the  younger  men 
become  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  or  masons  of  their  own 
accord,  those  who  adopt  these  trades  being,  as  a  rule, 
the  sons  of  fathers  who  were  brought  up  as  mechanics 
by  slave-holders.  These  sons  were  compelled  in  their 
early  youth,  by  the  paternal  authority,  to  assist  at  the 
tasks  of  the  workshop  or  the  smithy,  and  have  remained 
in  the  same  line  by  the  force  of  habit.  Many  who  might 
have  been  carefully  instructed,  relinquished  the  oppor 
tunity  opened  to  them  as  soon  as  they  were  old  enough 
to  support  themselves,  at  which  time  they  emigrated  to  a 
distance,  and  entered  employments  that  were  congenial 
to  their  tastes.  The  explanation  of  this  antipathy  on 


MECHANICS.  233 

their  part  to  mechanical  pursuits  is  easily  found  ;  such 
pursuits  constrain  them  to  conform  more  closely  than 
they  like  to  a  steady  routine  of  work  which  is  most  ardu 
ous  and  trying,  on  the  whole.  The  duties  of  a  hand  on 
a  plantation  are  neither  easy  nor  light,  it  is  true,  but  these 
duties  are  constantly  changing  with  the  progress  of  the 
seasons  ;  they  may  necessitate  the  greatest  toil  during 
one  month,  and  be  attended  with  comparative  relaxation 
of  effort  during  another.  Above  all,  the  laborer  is 
not  tied  down  to  one  spot  ;  if  he  grows  weary  of  one 
locality,  he  can  find  occupation  elsewhere.  But  this  is 
not  the  position  of  the  young  mechanic  ;  his  success  is 
largely  dependent  upon  his  remaining  in  one  place  ;  he 
secures  patronage  by  winning  a  reputation  for  skill  and 
assiduity  in  his  trade,  and  it  is  not  in  his  power  to  earn 
such  a  reputation  as  long  as  he  yields  to  his  inclination 
to  wander.  When  he  moves  from  one  neighborhood,  he 
is  not  at  all  assured  that  he  will  obtain  employment  in  his 
line  in  another,  as  the  only  stand  there  may  have  been 
taken,  and,  at  best,  he  will  be  unknown  and  friendless. 

Even  when  a  young  negro  has  been  trained  by  his 
father,  who  was  formerly  a  slave,  he  finds  it  difficult  to 
compete  with  white  men,  because  his  mechanical  educa 
tion  has  been  of  the  rudest  character,  and  limited  to  the 
simplest  branches  of  his  trade.  It  is  in  smithcraft  alone 
that  he  would  have  a  wide  and  favorable  field,  since  this 
occupation  is  generally  left  to  the  individuals  of  his  race, 
but  it  is  the  very  one  from  which  the  average  young 
negro  shrinks  with  the  greatest  aversion,  as  it  is  the 
most  exacting  and  confining  of  all  the  mechanical  pur 
suits.  Wielding  the  heavy  hammer  hour  after  hour 
would  put  his  strength  to  a  test  as  searching  as  that 
which  tries  the  endurance  of  a  convict  who  is  compelled 


234       THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

to  crack  stones  on  the  highway.  In  the  mere  arduous- 
ness  of  the  labor  which  it  requires,  the  life  of  a  smith 
who  is  attentive  enough  to  his  business  to  earn  a  living 
by  it,  is  more  severe  than  that  of  a  slave  ;  and,  in  addition 
to  this,  his  hours  of  work  are  much  more  protracted  than 
they  are  in  the  instance  of  negroes  who  follow  other 
employments.  His  smithy  is  most  frequently  located 
near  a  store,  the  principal  customers  of  which  are  only 
able  to  visit  it  in  the  late  afternoon,  or  after  night  has 
fallen.  His  patronage  is  largely  obtained  from  these 
customers,  and  he  has  to  be  careful  to  accommodate 
himself  to  the  hours  that  are  most  convenient  for  them 
to  utilize  his  skill  ;  he  is  thus  often  detained  in  his  shop 
long  after  the  laborers,  who  have  been  engaged  in  the 
fields,  have  dropped  their  hoes  or  abandoned  their  plows 
and  returned  to  their  cabins. 

The  places  of  a  few  of  the  mechanics  who  were  trained 
under  the  old  regime,  have  been  taken  by  young 
negroes  who  were  educated  in  industrial  schools,  and 
who  afterwards  decided  to  settle  in  the  secluded  rural 
districts.  These  young  men  perform  their  work  with  a 
fair  measure  of  skill,  and  are  not  deficient  in  assiduity  ; 
when  attentive  to  their  business,  and  animated  by  a 
desire  to  advance  in  it,  they  find  no  difficulty  in  securing 
an  extensive  and  valuable  patronage.  Quite  frequently, 
however,  they  show  that  restlessness  of  spirit,  that  long 
ing  for  a  change  which  is  observed  in  the  individuals  of 
their  own  age  and  race  at  large,  and  this  has  the  effect  of 
diminishing  their  usefulness  and  injuring  their  prosperity. 
Having  been  taught  in  a  school,  and  having,  to  a  certain 
extent,  been  brought  into  contact  with  the  world,  they 
are  not  as  contented  in  the  comparative  retirement  of  the 
country  as  they  would  be  if  they  had  been  instructed  in 


MECHANICS.  235 

their  trades  by  the  plantation  mechanics,  but  at  the  same 
time  they  are  better  fitted  to  meet  all  the  mechanical 
needs  of  the  localities  in  which  they  may  be.  Their 
usual  ambition  is  to  live  in  the  most  populous  communi 
ties,  as,  for  instance,  in  towns  and  villages,  not  so  much 
because  they  have  a  wider  field  there,  which  they  really 
have  not,  owing  to  the  competition  of  white  men,  but 
rather  because  the  society  of  such  communities  is  more 
agreeable  to  their  tastes. 

Negroes  who  have  been  educated  in  industrial  schools 
are,  however,  very  rare.  In  consequence  of  this,  as  well 
as  of  the  fact  that  the  individuals  of  the  race  are  not  in 
clined  to  adopt  mechanical  pursuits,  these  pursuits,  as 
the  mechanics  among  the  freedmen  die,  are  in  the  rural 
districts  gradually  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  whites. 
This  is  more  especially  the  case  now  with  the  trades  of 
the  carpenter,  wheelwright,  and  mason.  The  blacks  who 
are  employed  in  these  trades  are,  as  a  rule,  mere  assist 
ants  of  white  men,  and  do  only  the  humblest  parts  of  the 
labor  required,  such  as  raising  the  logs  and  stones  into 
position,  or  sawing  and  planing  the  plank.  Their  rela 
tion  to  their  superiors  is  such,  that  they  are  not  likely  to 
learn  on  their  own  account  how  to  take  absolute  charge 
of  any  important  work,  and  conduct  it  to  a  successful 
conclusion.  They  are  not  apprentices  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word,  being  simply  selected  for  their  physical 
strength,  without  regard  to  their  having  capacity  enough 
to  assume  control  of  any  special  task  without  advice,  and 
on  their  own  responsibility.  Throughout  the  tobacco 
region  the  buildings  most  commonly  observed  are  barns, 
which  demand  no  special  architectural  skill  in  their  con 
struction.  Of  all  the  innumerable  buildings  of  this  kind, 
scattered  throughout  a  wide  section  of  country,  that  have 


236      THE   PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

been  put  up  in  the  last  ten  years,  perhaps  twenty  in 
every  five  hundred  have  been  raised  by  colored 
men  who  have  had  exclusive  management.  Not  one 
of  the  various  dwelling-houses,  inhabited  by  the 
white  planters  of  many  counties,  was  designed  by  a 
black  mechanic,  and  erected  under  his  supervision. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  weakness  of  the  negro  when 
thrown  upon  his  own  resources  is  notable,  however 
far  his  skill  in  handiwork  may  have  been  developed  ;  he 
may  have  sufficient  knowledge  of  his  business  to  make 
an  excellent  assistant,  but  he  cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  relied 
upon  in  exacting  circumstances  to  direct  without  close 
superintendence.  Even  in  the  mechanical  trades  he 
shows  that  lack  of  the  power  of  intellectual  combination, 
that  want  of  the  capacity  for  originating,  which  is  de 
tected  in  the  members  of  his  race  in  every  situation  in 
which  they  are  placed.  The  only  trait  of  those  who 
have  been  specially  trained,  which  is  at  all  encouraging 
in  its  bearing  on  their  capacity  to  attain  to  the  highest 
skill,  is  that  they  frequently  show  pride  in  their  work,  a 
pride  which,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  not  always  associated 
with  unusual  excellence,  but  this  pride  might  be  made 
the  basis  of  the  acquirement  of  greater  dexterity.  In  the 
mechanical  pursuits,  that  peculiar  heedlessness  which 
distinguishes  the  negro,  that  inexactness  which  is  so 
patent  in  all  that  proceeds  from  his  hands  as  well  as 
from  his  mind,  has  been  found  to  be  the  principal  draw 
back  to  his  improvement  ;  and  this  obstacle  has  been 
more  conspicuous  here,  as  the  opposites  of  these  qualities 
are  so  essential.  These  qualities,  however,  are  more  apt 
to  be  repressed  by  him  now  than  they  were  formerly, 
because,  in  the  present  age,  he  has  to  rely  so  largely  on 
his  own  merits.  He  must  be  both  skilful  and  attentive 


MECHANICS.  237 

to  obtain  work,  for  if  he  is  ignorant  and  negligent,  he  is 
likely  to  suffer  so  much  in  consequence  that  it  will  only 
be  a  question  of  time  for  him  to  be  forced  to  abandon 
his  trade.  So  far,  however,  the  negro  has  shown  no  dis 
position  to  provide  against  future  misfortunes  to  himself 
by  removing,  through  an  effort  of  will  and  closer  atten 
tion  to  the  details  of  his  business,  those  deficiencies  that 
do  so  much  to  jeopardize  his  welfare.  He  resigns  him 
self  as  cheerfully  to  the  inevitable  results  of  his  own 
injudicious  acts  or  general  weaknesses  of  character  as  if 
he  were  unable  to  prevent  them  ;  and  he  is  as  likely  to 
display  this  trait  in  a  mechanical  pursuit  as  in  any  other 
that  he  may  follow.  It  would  be  difficult  for  him,  therefore, 
to  hold  his  own  in  such  a  pursuit  in  the  point  of  skill,  if 
he  were  compelled  to  compete  with  resolute  and  careful 
white  men.  This  is  not  only  true  of  him  in  the  trades, 
but  also  in  every  position  of  life.  The  negro  has  a  ten 
dency  now  to  become  either  a  laborer  or  a  house  servant, 
because  in  these  capacities  he  is  removed  from  all  serious 
rivalry  on  account  of  certain  qualities  of  character  that 
distinguish  him,  such  as  docility,  amiability,  and  per 
fect  contentment  in  the  humblest  situations.  If  he  were 
dissatisfied  and  ungovernable,  he  would  begin  at  once  to 
lose  ground  even  in  those  pursuits  which  he  now  virtually 
monopolizes,  for  this  would  bring  him  into  competition 
with  the  whites.  As  a  mechanic  his  position  is  much 
more  precarious,  because  he  is  not  naturally  adapted  to 
it  by  the  turn  of  his  mind  and  nature.  There  is  only  one 
means  of  multiplying  the  number  of  negro  mechanics, 
as  well  as  of  preparing  them  in  the  way  of  expertness 
and  trustworthiness  for  the  more  stringent  conditions 
that  now  confront  them,  and  that  is  the  technical  school. 
Undoubtedly  many  individuals  of  the  race  will  continue 


238       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A  FREEMAN. 

to  be  educated  by  local  apprenticeships,  but  without  the 
assistance  of  such  schools  fewer  will  be  trained  every 
year,  until  finally  those  who  are  trained  will  bear  the 
most  insignificant  proportion  to  those  who  are  employed 
merely  as  laborers.  An  increase  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
country  would  have  the  same  effect  in  contracting  the 
circle  of  colored  mechanics  as  it  would  have  in  diminish 
ing  the  class  of  colored  land-owners  ;  there  would  be  a 
demand  for  greater  aptitude,  a  demand  that  would  aug 
ment  the  number  of  white  mechanics,  who  could,  without 
any  difficulty,  compete  successfully  with  unskilled  blacks 
in  the  same  business.  The  technical  school  would  place 
the  latter  in  a  much  better  position  to  meet  this  compe 
tition,  and  would  thus  give  their  race  a  fair  proportion  of 
those  who  follow  these  trades.  In  such  an  institution 
the  individual  negro  could  be  instructed  as  far  as  his 
natural  capacity  might  allow  him  to  be.  If  he  had  any 
native  bent  towards  such  pursuits,  it  could  there  be  stren 
uously  encouraged.  Not  only  would  its  course  be  better 
adapted  to  prepare  him  for  the  work  that  he  has  to  do  than 
a  mere  apprenticeship  under  a  local  carpenter  or  mason 
who  was  trained  as  a  slave,  or  as  the  son  of  a  former 
slave,  but  the  discipline  prevailing  in  such  an  institution 
would  be  apt  to  counteract  those  weaknesses  of  his 
nature  which  would  prevent  him  from  being  proficient  if 
he  was  accustomed  only  to  the  lax  methods  of  a  rural 
workshop.  Habits  of  industry  would  be  fostered  in  him 
by  an  unbroken  routine  of  industrial  duties.  The  idea 
would  be  inculcated  that  his  career  in  life  was  to  be  confined 
to  mechanical  tasks,  and  he  would  be  so  carefully  and 
closely  drilled  that  this  idea  would  become  fixed  in  his 
own  mind.  There  would  be  nothing  to  divert  his  atten 
tion  during  the  time  of  his  instruction.  He  would  neither 


MECHANICS.  239 

have  an  opportunity  of  shirking  his  duties  nor  throwing 
them  up  altogether  by  a  sudden  withdrawal.  And  if 
the  school  were  to  consummate  the  training  thus  given 
by  securing  the  graduate  a  stand  in  some  prosperous 
locality,  the  good  that  it  would  accomplish  would  be  of 
lasting  advantage. 

It  would  not  be  well  to  overstock  the  various  trades 
by  thus  educating  too  many  negroes  to  follow  them  ;  but 
a  long  time  would  be  required  for  the  supply  to  reach 
the  limit  of  the  demand.  The  establishment  of  technical 
schools  for  the  blacks  by  the  act  of  the  State  would 
mean  the  establishment  of  similar  schools  for  the  whites, 
but  many  years  must  elapse  before  the  field  in  which 
their  respective  graduates  would  work  would  become  so 
contracted  as  to  bring  them  into  direct  conflict.  In  a 
contest  between  white  and  black  mechanics  of  equal 
skill,  the  latter  might  compete  successfully  with  the  for 
mer,  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  they  would  be  con 
tented  with  a  meaner  style  of  life,  which  would  enable 
them  to  charge  at  the  lowest  rates  ;  but  if  they  could  not 
hold  their  own  in  such  a  contest  they  would  have  to 
submit  to  that  great  economic  law  that  drives  the  weakest 
to  the  wall,  which  can  neither  be  resisted  nor  questioned. 
This  is  a  law  that  touches  individual,  class,  and  race 
alike  ;  a  law  that  has  no  mercy  or  sentiment,  either  in 
nature  or  society,  and  yet  producing  in  its  operation  all 
that  is  most  valuable  and  permanent  in  civilization. 

The  best  field  for  the  negro  mechanic  in  the  future 
will  be,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  in  that  great  section 
of  country  where  the  plantation  system  still  prevails.  It 
has  been  urged  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  technical 
schools  for  the  black  population,  that  they  would  tend  to 
shift  that  population  more  evenly  throughout  the  Union, 


240      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

as  the  graduates  of  such  schools  would  seek  those  local 
ities  where  there  was  room  for  their  services,  irrespective 
of  State  lines.  It  is  doubtful  whether  colored  mechanics 
could,  in  considerable  numbers,  attain  to  a  secure  posi 
tion  outside  of  the  South.  Elsewhere  they  would  be 
brought  into  conflict  with  white  workingmen,  who  are  slow 
to  admit  them  to  their  own  circle,  even  when  they  have 
skill  and  assiduity  to  recommend  them.  Wherever  white 
people  largely  predominate  the  negroes  can  only  sustain 
themselves  by  becoming  house  servants  or  by  performing 
the  lowest  kinds  of  labor.  In  every  other  occupation 
they  have  many  obstacles  to  surmount  in  such  communi 
ties,  which  they  are  not  adapted  by  their  natural  capacity 
or  past  history  or  present  position  as  a  race  to  overcome. 
If  they  are  to  rise  as  handicraftsmen  to  respectability  in 
the  general  order  of  society,  it  must  be  in  that  section 
of  the  republic  where  the  blacks  are  so  numerous  that  the 
greater  portion  of  all  manual  tasks  is  left  to  them  by  the 
mere  force  of  necessity,  and  where  these  mechanics 
would  be  able  to  establish  themselves  without  being 
confronted  at  once  by  any  rivalry  of  fatal  importance. 
Here  they  would  always  have  a  large  share  of  the  patron 
age  of  certain  trades,  and  would,  for  some  reasons,  have 
as  fair  a  chance  as  white  men  of  maintaining  themselves 
in  all. 


XVI. 

FUTURE    OF   THE   NEGRO. 


IN  the  course  of  my  previous  discussion  of  the  differ 
ent  branches  of  my  general  subject,  I  have  stated  briefly 
and  incidentally  what  I  anticipated  the  future  of  the 
plantation  negro  in  Virginia  would  be,  whether  consid 
ered  from  a  moral,  social,  or  political  point  of  view.  In 
the  first  section  of  my  final  chapter  I  shall  endeavor  to 
arrange  these  disconnected  opinions  in  a  systematic  form 
with  due  regard  to  their  natural  relation,  as  far  as  they 
bear  any  relation  .to  each  other  at  all.  To  describe  the 
condition  of  the  blacks,  even  as  it  is  found  to  be  to-day, 
is  a  task  attended  with  many  difficulties  and  perplexities  ;' 
but  when  we  come  to  speculate  upon  their  destiny  as  a 
people  we  soon  perceive  that  we  have  entered  a  wide 
field  of  conjecture.  If  we  restrict  the  scope  of  our  vision 
somewhat,  the  ground  does  not  seem  so  uncertain  in  the 
light  of  definite  tendencies  of  the  negro  at  this  time  that 
are  likely  to  be  followed  hereafter  by  their  logical  con 
sequences.  After  all,  the  principal  element  of  doubt  in 
our  contemplation  of  his  future  is  not  so  much  whether 
these  tendencies  will  be  modified  by  any  alteration  in 
his  fundamental  character,  as  whether  they  will  be  held 
in  check  by  circumstances,  or  whether  they  will  override 
circumstances,  however  strong  the  opposition  offered. 

241 


242       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

The  most  conspicuous,  and  in  its  bearing  on  their 
future,  the  most  significant  influence  at  work  among  the 
plantation  negroes  of  Virginia  is  that  which  is  withdraw 
ing  the  two  races  further  and  further  from  each  other  ; 
and  their  disposition  to  move  apart  will  be  stronger  still 
when  the  freedmen  now  living  have  vanished  from  the 
stage.  Indeed,  their  social  separation  will  be  so  wide  in 
the  future  that  every  community  inhabited  by  them  both 
will  be  as  distinctly  divided  into  two  social  bodies  as  if 
they  had  no  local  connection.  The  two  streams  will 
flow  side  by  side,  but  without  intermingling.  As  the 
extent  of  this  separation  increases,  the  sympathies  that 
have  held  the  whites  and  blacks  together  will  weaken,  the 
elements  of  difference  between  them  only  growing  more 
radical,  thus  revealing  very  clearly  how  alien  to  each 
other  the  two  peoples  are,  although  dwelling  in  the  same 
sections  of  country.  The  unmistakable  tendency  is  tow 
ards  a  still  further  diminution  of  the  number  of  points  of 
general  contact  between  the  races  ;  the  only  relation  of 
importance  between  them  now  is  that  of  employer  and 
employe,  but  this  relation  itself  implies  social  isolation, 
as  it  is  the  relation  of  authority  and  subordination. 
The  further  alienation  of  the  blacks  and  whites  will 
cause  the  social  customs  of  the  former  to  approximate 
still  nearer  to  their  special  qualities  as  a  people,  which 
signifies  a  further  departure  from  the  spirit  of  white 
society.  The  increase  of  their  population  alone  will 
give  greater  vigor  to  their  distinctive  social  habits. 
Even  at  present,  when  the  whites  retain  much  of  their 
influence  over  the  negroes  in  a  social  way,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  social  life  of  the  latter  is  animated  by  very  dif 
ferent  impulses  from  that  of  the  former.  Being  with 
drawn  more  and  more  to  themselves,  the  social  life  of  the 


FUTURE   OF  THE  NEGRO.  243 

blacks  will  continue  to  develop  more  fully  on  lines  that 
are  peculiar  to  itself.  There  are  now  few  elements  that 
are  common  to  the  respective  societies  of  the  two  races 
— the  divergence  will  be  more  distinct  and  rapid  in  the 
future,  as  the  longer  the  period  of  freedom  that  has 
elapsed,  the  more  unique  the  negroes  will  become  as  a 
people  and  as  a  part  of  the  community. 

One  of  the  most  important  results  so  far  of  the  aliena 
tion  of  the  races,  is  the  fact  that  illicit  sexual  com 
merce  between  them  has  virtually  ceased  outside  of  the 
towns  ;  and  no  circumstances  are  likely  to  arise  in  the 
future  to  encourage  a  renewal  of  improper  intercourse. 
The  only  prospect  of  amalgamation  has  been  through 
the  medium  of  the  female  mulattoes,  but  they  are  now 
being  rapidly  displaced  by  that  class  of  women  who,  on 
account  of  their  temper  and  appearance,  have  always 
been  more  or  less  repulsive  to  the  sensibilities  of  white 
men.  The  negroes  in  the  rural  communities  are  fast 
merging  in  the  original  type,  which  signifies  a  decline  in 
the  number  of  mulattoes,  for  the  latter  show  no  disposi 
tion  to  create  an  exclusive  circle  of  their  own  by  inter 
marriage  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  cohabit  as  readily  with 
the  darkest  individuals  as  with  men  and  women  of  their 
own  shade  of  color.  The  tendency  of  the  race  to  re 
vert,  therefore,  is  increased  not  only  by  the  reserve  of 
the  whites,  but  by  the  lack  of  objection  on  the  part  of 
the  mulattoes  themselves  to  sexual  intimacy  with  the 
blacks.  The  result  of  this  will  be  that,  in  a  few  genera 
tions,  the  negro  of  Virginia,  wherever  he  is  found  in 
large  communities  of  his  own  people,  will  be  an  exact 
physical  image  of  his  African  ancestors. 

The  return  of  the  race  to  the  original  physical  type, 
involves  its  intellectual  reversion  also.  The  alteration 


244      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

in  its  mental  character  will  be  disclosed  in  the  develop 
ment  of  simpler  and  more  distinct  intellectual  traits  ; 
with  the  elimination  of  the  mulattoes,  the  points  of  men 
tal  difference  between  the  blacks  and  whites  will  grow 
more  apparent.  So  far,  the  only  persons  of  unusual  capa 
city  whom  the  former  race  has  produced  have  been  men 
who  were  sprung,  either  directly  or  remotely,  from  white 
ancestry.  The  mental  resemblance  of  negroes  to  each 
other  will  be  more  notable  in  the  future  than  it  has  been 
in  the  past,  because  all  are  approximating  the  same  type 
in  which  they  will  in  time  be  fully  merged,  irrespective 
of  difference  of  origin  or  of  local  situation. 

The  reversion  to  the  original  type  is  apt  to  make  the 
negro  a  more  dangerous  political  factor,  because  it  will 
increase  his  inability  to  grasp  enlightened  ideas  of  pub 
lic  policy.  He  will  probably  sink  to  a  lower  plane  of 
political  ignorance,  and  grow  still  more  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  institutions  under  which  he  lives.  As  the  social 
and  intellectual  gulf  between  himself  and  the  white  peo 
ple  widens,  he  is  likely  to  fall  more  completely  under  the 
influence  of  his  antipathy  to  the  dominant  class  ;  and 
this,  in  general,  will  shape  his  political  action.*  Bribery, 
perhaps,  will  be  the  only  effective  means  of  inducing  a 
large  number  of  his  fellows  to  cast  their  votes  with  the 
whites  on  important  issues,  and,  in  consequence,  bribery 
in  one  form  or  another  will  play  a  very  conspicuous  part 
in  all  communities  where  many  members  of  his  race  are 
found.  The  social  aspect  of  negro  suffrage  is  certain 
to  grow  more  threatening  as  the  blacks  increase,  inas 
much  as  this  implies  their  more  thorough  subjection  to 
those  evil  influences  that  emanate  from  themselves  when 
dwelling  together  in  a  mass.  The  motives  that  have  led 
the  great  body  of  whites  to  vote  together  in  this  age, 


FUTURE   OP  THE  NEGRO.  245 

must  augment  in  force  in  the  age  to  follow.  As  a  peo 
ple,  there  is  strong  reason  to  believe  that  they  will  not 
consent  to  be  governed  by  a  horde  of  ignorant  black 
voters,  and  in  this  they  will  be  influenced  not  so  much 
by  sentimental  feeling,  as  by  a  determination  to  main 
tain  a  stable  administration  that  will  fulfil  all  the  needs 
of  society.  A  reunion  will  be  the  final  result  of  every 
important  division  in  the  ranks  of  the  white  voters, 
because  the  fact  that  the  ballots  of  the  negroes  are  cast 
in  favor  of  one  side  or  another,  will  in  the  end  produce 
a  revulsion  of  sentiment  throughout  white  society. 
While  many  of  the  whites  will  always  seek  to  use  negro 
suffrage  for  the  attainment  of  their  own  purposes,  the 
triumph  of  any  faction  composed  of  a  small  minority  of 
white  voters  and  a  large  majority  of  the  blacks  cannot 
be  lasting,  inasmuch  as  that  triumph,  if  prolonged  for  a 
considerable  length  of  time,  will  introduce  such  disas 
trous  elements  of  confusion,  and  foster  such  embittered 
antagonism  of  race,  as  to  be  destructive  of  the  coalition. 
The  special  bearing  of  public  questions  is  certain  to  sink 
into  insignificance  as  compared  with  the  general  bearing 
of  the  continued  success  of  the  negroes  at  the  polls. 
The  acknowledged  issues  of  all  the  most  important  elec 
tions  will  be  overshadowed  to  a  great  extent  by  the  silent 
issues  raised  by  the  direct  conflict  of  the  masses  of  blacks 
and  whites.  It  is  not  improbable  that  such  occasions  will 
be  attended  with  much  disorder,  arising  less  from  heated 
political  opposition  than  from  passions  inflamed  by 
antipathies  of  race. 

Every  circumstance  surrounding  the  negro  in  the 
present  age  seems  to  point  directly  to  his  further  moral 
decadence.  The  numerical  expansion  of  his  race  will 
deepen  its  unfortunate  peculiarities,  if  for  no  other 


246      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

reason,  because  that  expansion  will  lead  to  the  complete 
separation  of  the  blacks  and  whites,  even  when  dwelling 
together  in  the  same  communities.  The  decline  of  the 
negro  in  morality  will  be  exactly  in  proportion  to  the 
gradations  of  his  withdrawal  from  contact  with  the  white 
people.  When  the  last  tradition  of  slavery  has  been 
lost,  and  the  relations  between  the  two  races  have  been 
readjusted  in  thorough  accord  with  the  conditions  of  free 
citizenship,  unmodified  by  any  surviving  influence  of  the 
past,  the  gulf  between  them  will  be  far  more  obvious 
than  it  is  now.  The  influences  that  are  shaping  the 
character  of  the  younger  generations  appear  to  be  such 
as  must  bring  the  blacks  in  time  to  a  state  of  nature,  so 
far  as  a  people  inhabiting  a  country  where  a  system  of 
law  and  government  prevails  can  fall  into  that  state. 
Situated  as  they  are  in  communities  where  the  criminal 
code  is  enforced,  and  where  all  public  power  is  directed 
by  the  whites  to  the  support  of  the  continued  organiza 
tion  of  society,  their  return  to  a  condition  of  nature 
would  be  observed  only  in  their  domestic  relations. 
The  drift  now  is  towards  a  further  debasement  of  all 
these  relations,  which  is  not  only  indicative  of  general 
demoralization,  but  also  promotive  of  its  increase.  The 
probability  is  that,  in  a  few  generations,  formal  and  legal 
marriages  will  be  much  less  frequent  than  they  are  now, 
and  the  promiscuous  intercourse  between  the  sexes  will 
grow  more  open  and  unreserved.  This  unrestrained 
licentiousness  would  exercise  a  powerful  influence  upon 
the  disposition  of  the  children,  an  influence  altogether 
pernicious  and  dangerous,  which  in  time  would  show 
itself  in  the  further  decay  of  the  society  of  the  race. 

All  search  for  some  means  of  completely  arresting  the 
moral  decline  of  the  negro  seems  to  be  in  vain.     There 


FUTURE   OF  THE  NEGRO.  247 

are  only  two  general  plans  that  appear  to  be  in  the  least 
likely  even  to  retard  it.  I  have  already  referred  to  one 
of  these  plans  in  my  remarks  on  the  character  of  the 
school  system — namely,  the  erection  of  normal  schools, 
in  which  a  stringent  discipline  shall  be  enforced  in  the 
education  of  students  who  have  stood  the  severest  moral 
test  of  selection  that  the  race  can  endure.  The  public 
schools  should,  if  possible,  be  entirely  supplied  with  men 
of  this  stamp,  who  have  been  chosen  as  competent  to 
carry  out  a  special  moral  rather  than  a  special  intellectual 
mission.  Whether  a  body  of  negroes,  remarkable  for 
their  general  fitness  for  a  task  so  delicate  and  intricate 
as  that  which  they  will  have  to  perform,  can  be  gathered 
together,  is  open  to  considerable  doubt,  but  there  can  be 
no  question  that  men  thus  selected  are  far  better 
adapted  for  the  work  than  negroes  who  have  been 
appointed  indiscriminately. 

The  second  plan  resembles  the  first  in  principle.  It 
is  for  the  white  sectarian  denominations  to  establish 
seminaries  in  which  the  best  personal  material  furnished 
by  the  race,  obtained  by  as  rigid  a  test  as  that  which 
should  prevail  in  the  normal  school,  can  be  prepared  to 
serve  as  religious  missionaries  to  their  people.  The 
graduates  of  such  seminaries  should  be  despatched  to  the 
rural  communites  to  labor  under  the  supervision  of  the 
organizations  that  have  educated  them  ;  they  should  be 
carefully  superintended,  and  their  general  lives  subjected 
to  uninterrupted  scrutiny.  There  is  substantial  ground 
for  asserting  that  the  missionary  efforts  of  white  persons, 
with  a  view  to  the  religious  improvement  of  the  negroes, 
will  not  prove  very  fruitful  in  the  future,  on  account  of 
the  social  separation  of  the  races.  All  money  thus  ex 
pended,  and  all  energy  put  forth,  will  probably  be  wasted. 


248       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO   AS  A    FREEMAN. 

The  general  decline  of  the  blacks  in  morals  can  only  be 
arrested  even  partially  by  the  intervention  of  the  negro 
himself ;  the  endeavors  of  the  whites,  therefore,  should 
be  directed  to  the  proper  education  of  the  colored 
teacher  and  preacher  for  the  work  which  circumstances 
impose  upon  them  alone.  If  they  shall  prove  themselves 
to  be  inefficient  or  impotent,  the  last  hope  of  improving 
the  condition  of  the  masses  of  the  race  will  have  been 
dispelled  ;  but  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  and  the  Church 
that  such  teachers  and  preachers  shall  have  the  most 
favorable  opportunities  of  testing  their  competence. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  negro  appears  to  most  ad 
vantage  in  cities,  not  only  because  he  is  there  brought 
into  the  closest  and  most  constant  contact  with  white 
people,  but  also  because  he  is  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  the  police.  The  moral  decline  of  the  race 
in  the  rural  districts  would  perhaps  be  somewhat  re 
tarded  by  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law,  even  in 
its  smallest  details ;  every  form  of  crime  among  them 
should,  for  their  own  welfare,  if  not  for  the  safety  of  the 
community,  be  severely  and  swiftly  punished,  as  a  general 
warning.  That  their  lesser  offenses  are  not  now  pun 
ished  to  the  degree  that  they  should  be,  is  due,  in  some 
measure,  to  the  fear  which  the  property  holder  has 
of  exciting  their  enmity.  The  planter  who  would  arrest 
every  pilferer  among  his  laborers  would  undoubtedly  run 
the  risk  of  having  his  buildings  and  crops  destroyed  by 
incendiary  fires,  or  his  cattle  secretly  poisoned.  Appre 
hension  of  a  similar  danger  would  lurk  in  his  mind  with 
respect  to  his  domestic  servants,  if  he  were  to  bring  them 
to  justice  for  every  violation  of  law,  however  petty, 
of  which  they  were  guilty. 

The  increase  of  crime  by  the  blacks  among  themselves 


FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO.  249 

is  apt  to  be  proportionate  only  to  the  growth  of  their 
population,  with  the  exception  of  offenses  that  spring 
from  superstition,  which  will  be  ranker  in  their  commu 
nities  in  the  future  than  it  is  even  now,  both  because  the 
negroes  will  be  more  numerous  and  because  they  will  be 
much  more  withdrawn  to  themselves.  The  infractions 
of  law  arising  in  this  connection  will  probably  multiply, 
partially  from  the  fact  that  the  blacks  will  be  inclined  to 
connive  at  such  crimes  or  will  be  terrorized  into  secrecy. 
All  offenses  which  they  can  commit  against  the  whites 
will  occur  more  frequently,  as  that  spirit  of  subservience 
which  they  still  feel  in  their  association  with  the  ruling 
class,  in  consequence  of  the  recollection  or  the  tradition 
of  slavery,  declines  with  the  lapse  of  years.  This  is  not 
apt  to  be  observed  in  the  instance  of  murder  or  burglary, 
from  which  the  worst  individuals  of  the  race  shrink,  on 
account  of  the  personal  boldness,  coolness,  and  fortitude 
which  the  perpetration  of  such  crimes  requires  ;  it  will 
be  much  more  notable  in  the  case  of  all  criminal  acts 
that  can  be  carried  out  in  a  secret  and  furtive  way,  with 
out  personal  danger  at  the  moment  to  the  felon,  such  as 
arson,  incendiarism,  and  poisoning.  For  the  same  rea 
son,  it  is  highly  probable  that  rape  will  be  committed 
more  often  in  the  future  than  it  has  been  in  the  past,  in 
spite  of  the  summary  punishment  which  is  meted  out  to 
it.  While  the  heinous  offenses  perpetrated  by  the  ne 
groes  will  be  fewer  on  the  whole  than  would  be  expected 
of  a  population  so  little  trained  in  morality  and  occupy 
ing  such  a  low  position  in  the  social  scale,  yet  they  are 
always  likely  to  demoralize,  to  a  great  extent,  the  regular 
and  legal  administration  of  the  law,  for  the  natural  hor 
ror  which  their  worst  crimes  against  the  white  people  will 
excite  in  the  breasts  of  the  latter  will  be  aggravated  by 


250      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

antipathies  of  race,  finding  vent  under  the  impulse  of  the 
moment  in  deeds  of  determined  violence. 

So  far  as  the  material  condition  of  the  negroes  is  con 
cerned,  they  will  continue,  for  several  generations,  at 
least,  to  constitute  the  principal  part  of  the  laboring 
population  of  every  community  in  which  they  dwell  ;  in 
.  fact,  it  will  only  be  as  tillers  of  the  soil  that  the  great 
body  will  be  employed  in  the  plantation  districts,  for  the 
mechanical  trades  are  likely,  in  time,  to  fall  altogether 
into  the  hands  of  white  men.  Owing  to  their  local  situa 
tion  and  their  extreme  poverty,  the  blacks  will  be  con 
strained  to  work,  the  force  of  necessity  rather  than  any 
desire  to  improve  their  condition  making  them  as  a  peo 
ple  more  or  less  industrious  ;  but  as  their  only  wish  will 
be  to  supply  their  immediate  wants,  they  are  apt  to  relax 
for  the  time  being  when  this  object  is  temporarily  accom 
plished.  They  are  not  likely  to  cease  to  be  restless,  and 
also  unreliable  in  adhering  to  their  engagements  ;  but 
the  probability  is,  that  they  will  not  be  disposed  to  dis 
order  labor  by  turbulent  interference  unless  acting  un 
der  the  influence  of  white  labor  organizations.  This  will 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  they  have  no  turn  for  coopera 
tion  ;  and  then,  too,  they  will  always  be  more  in  the 
power  of  the  land-owners  than  the  artisans  and  mechan 
ics  of  the  large  cities  are  in  the  power  of  manufacturers. 
It  is  true  that  they  also  can  combine  and  strike,  but  their 
position  will  be  much  more  precarious,  because  they  can 
be  expelled  from  their  homes  as  well  as  discharged — a 
serious  matter  if  all  the  planters  of  the  same  section  are 
organized. 

There  is  only  one  contingency  that  is  calculated  to 
destroy  the  prosperity  of  the  Virginian  negro  as  a  laborer 
in  the  future,  namely,  the  complete  disruption  of  that 
system  of  large  farms  and  plantations  which  now  pre- 


FUTURE   OF  THE  NEGRO.  2$  I 

vails,  especially  in  the  tobacco  region,  where  the  black 
population  of  the  State  is  principally  concentrated. 
There  is  apparent  in  the  latter  section  a  tendency  tow 
ards  the  breaking  up  of  this  system,  because  agricultural 
operations  there  are  not  profitable,  as  a  rule,  when  con 
ducted  on  a  considerable  scale,  on  account  of  the  low 
prices  of  products,  the  amount  paid  in  wages  to  laborers, 
and  also  the  general  unreliability  of  the  laborers  them 
selves.  The  small  farmers  and  planters  are  rapidly  in 
creasing  in  number  and  influence.  The  drift  is  towards 
a  still  greater  division  of  land  and  a  more  general  distri 
bution  of  such  property  among  the  white  people  ;  this 
drift  being  the  source  of  benefit  to  a  few  negroes,  who 
are  prudent  and  economical  enough  to  save  their  earn 
ings,  but  to  the  mass  of  the  race  it  is  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  their  obtaining  a  subsistence.  The  existence  of 
a  general  system  of  small  estates  would  imply  the  culti 
vation  of  the  soil,  for  the  most  part,  by  the  families  of 
white  proprietors  ;  in  consequence  of  which  there  would 
not  be  the  same  demand  for  the  services  of  the  blacks, 
and  any  decline  in  that  demand  is  detrimental  to  their 
interests.  This  will  be  peculiarly  the  case  in  the  future, 
when  they  have  increased  very  much  ;  the  competition 
among  themselves  will  then  be  more  active,  even  if  their 
present  advantageous  position  as  laborers  were  to  remain 
unaffected  by  an  alteration  in  the  system  of  land-holding. 
Any  change  that  diminishes  the  calls  upon  their  manual 
strength  will  react  injuriously  to  their  fortunes  in  a  pe 
cuniary  sense. 

So  far  as  the  accumulation  of  property  is  involved, 
especially  property  in  the  form  of  land,  the  progress  of 
the  negroes  will  probably  be  less  marked  in  the  future 
than  it  has  been  in  the  past.  The  period  of  twenty 
years  that  has  elapsed  since  the  war  has  offered  the  fair- 


252       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

est  opportunities  that  are  ever  likely  to  arise  of  purchasing 
estates,  and  yet  the  proprietors,  even  among  men  who 
are  old  enough  to  to  have  been  trained  in  the  strict  and 
regular  school  of  slavery,  are  very  few  as  compared  with 
the  masses  of  their  people.  The  numerical  disproportion 
between  the  proprietors  who  belong  respectively  to  the 
older  and  younger  generations  is  still  more  significant. 
The  number  of  colored  land-owners  will  perhaps  decrease 
relatively  to  the  growth  of  the  black  population,  but  the 
rapidity  of  this  decrease  is  dependent  upon  the  condition 
of  the  various  sections  of  the  State.  There  has  already 
been  an  advance  in  the  value  of  the  soil  in  many  parts  of 
the  tobacco  region  on  account  of  the  demand  for  land 
among  the  members  of  the  class  of  small  planters  and 
farmers.  This  means  that  the  ability  of  the  negro  to  buy 
even  a  few  acres  in  those  parts  has  been  diminished, 
which  has  had  a  tendency  to  encourage  further  the 
extravagance  and  wastefulness  of  the  race.  The  growth 
of  prosperity  has  a  blighting  influence  on  their  fortunes 
everywhere,  because  such  prosperity  implies,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  greater  stringency  of  the  conditions  of  exist 
ence,  and  any  stringency  at  all  has  always  affected  them 
very  injuriously  in  every  way,  as  they  find  it  impossible, 
with  all  their  undoubted  power  of  adaptation,  to  acquire 
such  habits  of  economy,  prudence,and  foresight  as  to  learn 
to  adjust  themselves  to  harsh  situations.  Statistics  dis 
close  that  they  do  not  expand  numerically  in  the  cities  for 
this  reason,  and  they  would  not  multiply  in  the  country  at 
the  present  rate  if  it  were  not  so  easy  to  earn  a  livelihood. 

ii. 

What  is  to  be  the  final  destiny  of  the  negro,  not  only  in 
Virginia,  but  in  the  tier  of  great  States  that  lie  to  the  south 


FUTURE   OF  THE  NEGRO.  2$$ 

and  southwest,  a  vast  extent  of  country  where  the  indi 
viduals  of  his  race  are  remarkable  for  the  same  unfortu 
nate  qualities  and  for  equally  dangerous  tendencies.  If 
there  is  any  happy  solution  of  the  problem  which  the 
numerical  strength  as  well  as  the  general  disposition  of 
the  blacks  creates  throughout  the  Southern  division  of 
the  republic,  it  must  be  the  result  of  influences  now 
at  work  there.  The  only  influences  that  are  likely  to 
lead  to  such  a  solution  are  those  that  are  breaking  up  the 
system  of  large  farms  and  plantations  which  prevailed  in 
the  age  of  slavery  and  which  has  survived  to  the  present 
era.  The  gradual  disruption  of  this  system  is  observed 
in  every  part  of  the  Southern  States  where  the  climate  is 
agreeable  to  the  health  of  white  people  ;  the  only  ques 
tion  is  as  to  the  degree  of  progress  which  it  is  making 
and  how  far  it  will  proceed,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  its  inevitable  effect,  if  it  shall  reach  its  extreme  limit, 
will  be  to  check  the  further  expansion  of  the  black  popu 
lation.  In  the  general  distribution  of  land  that  is  now 
going  on,  the  negroes,  especially  those  who  belong  to  the 
generation  that  has  come  of  age  since  the  war,  are 
obtaining  only  a  trivial  share,  a  share  that  sinks  into 
peculiar  insignificance  when  the  numerical  proportion  of 
the  races  is  recalled.  The  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
Southern  blacks  must  continue  to  be  laborers  without 
any  interest  in  the  soil  that  they  till.  It  is  not  improba 
ble,  however,  that  the  day  will  arrive  when  the  salubrious 
portion  of  the  South  will  have  been  divided  into  such 
small  holdings  that  their  white  owners  will  be  able  to 
cultivate  them  without  the  need  of  much  assistance; 
This  would  be  wholly  destructive  of  the  material  pros 
perity  of  the  great  body  of  negroes  even  as  ordinary 
working  men.  But  long  before  this  point  in  the  disrup- 


254      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

tion  of  the  old  agricultural  system  of  the  South  would  be 
reached,  a  strong  pressure  would  be  brought  to  bear  to 
force  the  masses  of  the  race  back  upon  the  poorest  lands, 
where  it  would  be  so  difficult  to  earn  a  subsistence  that 
the  growth  of  the  black  population  would  not  only  cease, 
but  a  decline  in  its  numerical  strength  would  even  set  in. 
The  inclination  of  that  population  from  Virginia  to 
Texas  under  these  circumstances,  if  they  should  arise  in 
the  course  of  time,  would  be  to  drift  towards  the  malari 
ous  regions  of  the  Gulf  and  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley, 
where  it  will  always  be  difficult  for  the  whites  to  live  on 
account  of  the  pestilential  nature  of  the  climate.  Here 
the  blacks  would  form  large  communities,  which  would 
become  such  dangerous  elements  in  the  States  to  which 
they  would  belong,  that  it  would  be  to  the  interest  of  the 
white  people  to  allow  the  negroes  to  erect  a  common 
wealth  of  their  own  over  which  they  could  exercise  an 
absolute  control. 

The  tendency  towards  the  division  of  the  soil  in  the 
upland  parts  of  the  South  will  probably  be  hastened  by 
many  influences.  In  the  first  place,  the  members  of  the 
white  population  are  not  now  emigrating  to  the  extent 
that  they  formerly  did.  In  the  second  place,  the  South 
ern  cities  are  increasing  in  size  and  wealth,  which,  in 
time,  will  have  the  effect  of  improving  the  condition  of 
the  rural  communities  by  enhancing  the  value  of  land. 
In  the  third  place,  there  is  a  disposition  everywhere  now 
to  construct  railroads  by  county  subscriptions,  which 
always  create  a  number  of  new  industries.  And  finally, 
when  the  West  is  fully  occupied,  there  will  be  an  incli 
nation  on  the  part  of  immigrants,  Northern  as  well  as 
foreign,  to  settle  in  the  South — first  in  border  States  like 
Virginia  and  Tennessee,  and  afterwards  on  the  lines  of 


FUTURE   OF  THE  NEGRO.  2$ 5 

lower  sections  of  country.  The  fierce  competition  in 
the  older  communities  which  they  abandon  will  perhaps 
make  them  indifferent  to  the  obstacles  with  which  they 
will  have  to  contend  when  brought  into  contact  with 
negroes.1 

Admitting  as  true  that  there  is  a  tendency  towards 
the  distribution  of  land  among  the  whites  throughout 
the  greater  portion  of  the  South  ;  admitting  further  that 
this  tendency  must  culminate  in  a  system  of  small  es 
tates  resembling  those  observed  at  the  North,  which  are 
cultivated  by  the  families  of  the  white  proprietors,  with 
some  assistance  from  hired  laborers  ;  admitting  all  this 
as  substantially  correct,  or,  at  least,  within  the  range  of 
probability,  we  are  at  once  confronted  with  the  various 
evils  that  will  flow  from  the  growth  of  the  black  popu 
lation  in  that  interval  that  must  elapse  before  the  gradual 
disruption  of  the  old  agricultural  system  can  exercise 
a  marked  influence,  either  in  checking  the  propaga 
tion  of  the  negroes,  or  in  forcing  them  to  emigrate  to 
the  malarious  regions  of  the  Gulf  and  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  For  half  a  century,  at  least,  the  blacks  of  the 
South  will  continue  to  expand  numerically  at  an  alarm 
ing  rate,  because,  during  that  period  of  time,  the  soil 
must  remain  comparatively  cheap  and  abundant,  and  the 
negro  be  in  sufficient  demand  as  a  laborer  to  supply 
him  with  all  that  is  necessary  to  his  existence.  The 
social  and  political  evils  that  will  accompany  this  ex 
pansion  will  be  as  great  as  if  there  were  no  influence  in 
operation  to  obstruct  it  in  the  end  ;  the  temporary  posi- 

1  All  these  influences  will  affect  the  interests  of  the  negro  very 
unfavorably,  for  the  reason  that  I  have  mentioned,  namely,  they 
will  make  the  conditions  of  existence  far  more  stringent  than  they 
are  now  for  the  race. 


256      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A    FREEMAN. 

tion  of  the  Southern  States  will  be  as  trying  in  conse 
quence  as  if  there  were  no  prospect  of  final  relief. 
However  fortunate  may  be  the  result  of  this  influence 
in  the  distant  future,  these  States  must  for  many  decades 
be  surrounded  with  an  increasing  number  of  causes  for 
immediate  apprehension. 

If  time  shall  show  that  the  tendency  towards  the  divi 
sion  of  land  among  the  Southern  whites  is  insignificant 
in  its  scope  after  all,  and  without  an  element  of  perma 
nence,  and  if  the  numerical  expansion  of  the  blacks  shall 
exclude  all  those  foreign  influences  that  would  improve 
the  condition  of  the  South,  then  it  is  impossible  to  re 
gard  its  future  without  a  feeling  of  profound  misgiving. 
As  long  as  there  are  vast  spaces  unoccupied  by  the  whites 
and  the  means  of  earning  a  subsistence  are  so  easy,  the 
increase  of  the  black  population  will  be  practically  irh- 
limited.  The  unlimited  increase  of  that  population  is 
pregnant  with  innumerable  calamities.  It  virtually 
means  that  a  period  will  come  when  there  will  be  a 
sharp  contest  between  blacks  and  whites  for  the  posses 
sion  of  a  large  part  of  the  Southern  States  ;  and  in  this 
contest  the  whites  will  not  peacefully  yield  a  foot  of 
ground  unless  they  are  slowly  excluded  by  the  irresisti 
ble  pressure  that  will  result  from  an  enormous  numerical 
disproportion  between  the  two  races.  The  South  cannot 
remain  permanently  half  black  and  half  white.  That 
section  is  as  radically  divided  against  itself  to-day  as  the 
Union  was  when  composed  of  free  and  slave  States  ; 
and  the  words  which  Abraham  Lincoln  quoted  then  can 
be  quoted  with  equal  aptness  now  :  "  No  house  divided 
against  itself  can  stand.''  Either  the  whites  or  the  ne 
groes  must  withdraw  or  be  extinguished  by  the  stress  of 
natural  influences.  The  white  people  are  favored  by  the 


FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

fact  that  they  belong  to  a  race  that  has  always  been  re 
markable  for  intelligence,  courage,  and  an  invincible 
determination  to  maintain  its  supremacy.  Furthermore, 
they  hold  possession  of  the  soil.  On  the  other  hand, 
although  the  blacks  are  intellectually  and  morally  defi 
cient,  yet  they  have  the  strength  of  numbers  that  are 
multiplying  with  startling  rapidity.  All  schemes  that 
contemplate  a  forcible  solution  of  the  problem  to  the 
advantage  of  the  whites  are  visionary  and  impracticable. 
The  deportation  to  a  separate  territory  of  their  own,  of 
the  mere  annual  increase  of  the  negroes,  would  throw  the 
whole  South  into  bankruptcy.  The  acquisition  of  a 
settled  country  like  San  Domingo,  with  a  view  to  the 
encouragement  of  immigration  thither  by  national  subsi 
dies,  although  perfectly  feasible,  would  hardly  be  accep 
table  to  the  national  judgment.  There  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  substantial  ground  for  anticipating  that  the  public 
schools  will  solve  the  problem  by  imparting  to  the  masses 
of  the  blacks  a  just  conception  of  the  duties  and  respon 
sibilities  of  citizenship,  thus  finally  assimilating  them  as 
a  people  to  the  spirit  of  our  institutions.  This  opinion 
is  based  upon  a  close  observation  of  the  operation 
of  the  school  system  in  one  State  only,  but  the  negroes 
are  so  homogeneous  everywhere,  the  general  influences 
throughout  the  South  are  so  similar,  that  what  is  true  of 
the  race  in  one  commonwealth  is  apt  to  be  true  of  its 
members  in  a  great  division  of  country  and  as  one  dis 
tinct  people.  Even  admitting  that  the  public  schools 
can  meet  and  remove  all  the  dangers  of  the  situation, 
there  is  every  prospect  that  the  growth  of  the  black  popu 
lation  will  be  so  rapid  and  enormous  that  the  resources 
of  the  Union  would  in  a  century  be  unable  to  satisfy 
its  educational  needs.  The  first  conspicuous  influence 


258       THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

of  instruction  will  be  to  cause  the  negroes  to  be 
restive  under  the  deprivation  of  power  proportionate  to 
their  numbers.  In  making  the  blacks  more  clearly  aware 
of  their  numerical  strength,  it  will  inspire  them  with 
a  desire  to  use  it  with  a  view  to  their  own  aggrandize 
ment  ;  but  no  instance  that  history  furnishes  of  the 
domination  of  the  race  leads  us  to  believe  that  its  mem 
bers  are  competent  to  direct  an  enlightened  system  of 
administration.  Wherever  on  the  face  of  the  globe 
negroes  have  established  commonwealths  of  their  own, 
they  have  shown  themselves  to  be  wholly  incapable  of 
self-government.  In  Hayti,  where  they  have  had  the 
fairest  field  for  the  experiment,  for  it  is  an  island  that 
combines  every  variety  of  soil  and  climate,  disorder  and 
revolution  have  prevailed  without  intermission  since  they 
declared  their  independence.  There  they  are  rapidly  re 
verting  to  the  African  tribal  relations.  Human  bodies  are 
secretly  sold  in  the  markets  of  the  capital  city  for  meat, 
and  the  highest  officers  of  the  State  are  involved  in  the 
cannabalistic  practices  of  the  Voudoo  sect,  which  are 
encouraged  and  participated  in  by  the  great  body  of  the 
people.  The  queen  of  the  Antilles,  the  most  beautiful 
island  in  the  world,  has  virtually  become  a  savage  jungle.1 
Jamaica  has  sunk  to  an  equally  hopeless  condition. 
One  of  the  fairest  parts  of  the  globe,  a  part  upon  which 
nature  has  lavished  without  stint  her  greatest  treasures 
and  beauties,  has  declined  to  a  tropical  wilderness  far 
more  wretched,  with  its  evidences  of  a  former  prosperity, 
than  when  the  foot  of  Columbus  first  touched  the  shores 
of  San  Salvador.  Africa,  the  most  fertile  of  all  the  con- 

1  See  the  temperate,  able,  and  interesting  work  of  Sir  Spencer  St. 
John,  late  British  Consul  to  Hayti,  entitled  :  "  Hayti,  or  the  Black 
Republic,"  and  published  as  recently  as  1884. 


FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


tinents,  and  upon  its  central  plateaus  one  of  the  most 
salubrious,  with  magnificent  lakes  and  streams  that  offer 
a  network  of  highways  to  internal  commerce,  is  observed 
to-day,  when  the  arts  have  been  carried  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  development  elsewhere,  to  be  the  scene  of  the 
lowest  forms  of  barbarism  and  the  home  of  the  most  de 
graded  types  of  humanity.  But  the  strongest  proof  that 
can  be  furnished  of  the  unfortunate  qualities  of  the 
negro  is  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  South  during  the 
period  of  reconstruction,  when  he  reduced  many  illustri 
ous  commonwealths  to  political  chaos  and  brought  soci 
ety  itself  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  That  a  race  which  has 
occupied  such  a  large  portion  of  the  globe  should  in  all 
ages  and  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  have 
shown  itself  to  be  so  incapable  not  only  of  creating  civi 
lization,  but  also  of  preserving  its  fruits  when  introduced 
to  a  civilization  not  their  own,  must  be  due  to  the  want 
of  those  virtues  and  vigorous  elements  of  character  that 
have  distinguished  every  people  who  have  played  an 
important  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

The  same  deficiencies  that  render  the  negro  unable  to 
govern  cause  his  influence  to  be  highly  dangerous,  even 
when  he  is  a  subordinate  political  factor.  For  this  rea 
son  the  expression,  the  solid  South,  has  no  sectional  sig 
nificance  ;  it  merely  embodies  the  determination  of  the 
whites  to  ward  off  political  ruin  and  to  save  society  from 
destruction.  There  are  no  fundamental  differences  in 
popular  feeling,  because  such  differences  are  radically 
inconsistent  not  only  with  the  welfare  of  the  community, 
but  even  with  its  permanent  existence.  The  discussion 
and  agitation  of  questions  of  national  concern  have  al 
ready  ceased  in  the  Southern  States,  inasmuch  as  all  di 
vergence  of  political  opinion  involves  social  anarchy  in 


260      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN 
I 

the  conclusion.  Not  until  the  negro  is  eliminated  as  a 
political  factor  will  the  equilibrium  of  the  Union  be  re 
stored,  for  not  until  then  will  the  Southern  whites  sepa 
rate  into  parties.  They  were  bound  together  before  the 
war  by  a  common  interest  in  the  maintenance  of  the  in 
stitution  of  slavery  ;  they  are  united  in  sentiment  now  by 
the  evils  incident  to  negro  suffrage,  and  they  will  remain 
united  as  long  as  the  blacks  enjoy  as  a  mass  the  right  to 
vote.  If  that  right  were  curtailed,  the  Southern  people 
would  be  more  evenly  divided  between  parties  than  the 
citizens  of  the  North  are  to-day.  As  it  is,  the  future,  so 
far  from  extending  any  promise  that  the  solidarity  of  the 
Southern  States  will  be  broken,  offers  still  weightier 
reasons  why  that  solidarity  shall  be  preserved — reasons 
springing  from  the  numerical  expansion  of  the  black 
population,  which  will  certainly  continue  to  grow  dur 
ing  the  course  of  several  generations,  if  not  for  a  practi 
cally  indefinite  time.  Negro  suffrage  has  compelled  the 
South  to  assume  an  eminently  conservative  attitude  with 
respect  to  her  own  affairs,  and  this  conservatism  will 
deepen  with  her  increasing  difficulties  and  dangers.  To 
withdraw  from  her  present  policy  is  to  relegate  her  insti 
tutions,  social  as  well  as  political,  to  anarchy  and  barbar 
ism  ;  but  to  pursue  that  policy  for  a  great  length  of  time 
would  seem  to  be  impossible.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any 
country  can  thrive  that  must  permanently  remain  in  the 
condition  of  an  armed  camp.  The  partial  disfranchise- 
ment  of  the  negro  in  the  future  would  appear  to  be  in 
evitable  as  essential,  if  not  to  the  existence  of  the  South, 
then  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Union. 

The  questions  raised  by  the  presence  of  the  negro 
have  always  been  the  most  perplexing  in  our  nationa- 
life,  and  from  the  beginning  the  American  people  have 


FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO.  261 

deferred  the  settlement  of  these  questions  until  they 
became  too  pressing  to  be  evaded.  First,  there  was  the 
acrimonious  wrangle  as  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  which 
finally  culminated  in  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  and 
fratricidal  of  wars.  This  was  followed  by  the  bestowal 
of  the  franchise  on  the  freedman,  which  shook  all  the 
institutions  of  the  Southern  States  to  their  lowest  foun 
dations  ;  and  to-day  the  rapid  increase  of  the  black 
population  constitutes  a  graver  danger  to  the  stability  of 
our  government  than  any  that  is  sapping  the  vitality  of  the 
European  monarchies.  During  all  of  the  later  periods 
of  our  national  history  the  majestic  and  radiant  figure  of 
the  Republic  has  been  dogged  by  the  ominous  shadow  of 
the  negro — now  as  a  slave,  stripped  of  every  privilege, 
and  now  as  a  citizen,  holding  aloft  the  ballot  in  his  hand. 
In  the  course  of  the  next  ten  decades  American  institu 
tions  will  be  subjected  to  a  severer  strain  than  they  have 
yet  endured,  and  one  of  the  most  important  causes  of 
this  strain  will  be  the  evil  influence  which  the  Southern 
blacks  will  indirectly  exercise  on  the  national  destiny,  an 
influence  that  time  will  only  make  more  pernicious  if 
nothing  shall  intervene  to  check  their  numerical  growth. 
The  negro  is  only  useful  to  the  Southern  States,  and 
through  those  States  to  the  Union,  as  a  laborer,  but  it 
would  be  far  better  for  the  whole  country  if  he  were 
withdrawn,  even  though  withdrawn  so  suddenly  as  to 
wholly  blight,  for  a  time,  the  material  interests  of  the 
South.  It  would  be  better,  indeed,  for  that  entire  sec 
tion  to  be  relegated  to  its  primeval  condition  with  a  view 
to  its  being  settled  again  exclusively  by  a  white  popula 
tion,  just  as  if  it  were  a  virgin  territory,  than  for  it  to 
maintain  its  present  position  partially  through  the  manual 
exertions  of  the  blacks,  but  with  the  individuals  of  that 


262      THE  PLANTATION  NEGRO  AS  A   FREEMAN. 

race  increasing  so  rapidly  as  to  threaten  the  extinction 
in  the  end  of  every  element  of  prosperity,  with  no  hope 
of  subsequent  revival. 

The  position  of  the  South  with  respect  to  the  negro 
problem  should  not  be  misunderstood.  Its  proper  solu 
tion  is  a  matter  of  profound  solicitude  to  her  from 
whatever  standpoint  it  may  be  viewed.  Thousands  of 
her  -citizens,  whose  patriotism  is  coextensive  with  the 
republic,  are  deeply  and  constantly  meditating  on  the 
dangers  of  her  situation  and  speculating  as  to  how  these 
dangers  can  be  removed.  The  questions  involved  have 
risen  above  the  plane  of  antipathies  of  race.  They  have 
passed  from  the  sphere  of  individuals  and  parties.  They 
now  bear  alone  upon  the  final  destinies  of  a  great  section 
of  country,  endowed  by  the  Creator  with  every  advantage 
of  climate  and  soil,  a  section  capable  of  supporting  a 
teeming  population  and  suited  to  become  the  scene  of 
the  highest  development  of  American  civilization.  Fer 
vent  should  be  the  prayer  that  the  course  of  future  events 
will  solve  this  momentous  problem  at  last  in  a  way  that 
will  redound  to  the  prosperity  of  the  South  and  the 
glory  of  the  Union.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Southern 
people  are  using  every  means  in  their  reach  to  bring 
about  this  consummation,  and  upon  the  efforts  that  they 
have  made  and  are  still  making  with  that  view  they 
may  well  invoke,  in  the  language  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  that  precipitated  the  special  evils  that  now 
environ  them,  "  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind 
and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God." 


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G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS'  PUBLICATIONS. 
CONSTITUTIONAL  QUESTIONS 

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II.  AMERICAN  STATE  CONSTITUTIONS.     An 

Analysis  of  the  Influences  that  have  Affected  their  History 
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III.  THE  AMERICAN    ELECTORAL   SYSTEM. 

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systems  is  vigorous,  intelligent,  and  impartial." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"  Full  of  valuable  suggestions,  and  deserves  a  careful  reading  by  all 
who  are  interested  in  our  political  system." — Boston  Traveller. 

"  Mr.  O'Neil  has  collected  his  material,  and  his  bc^HP -traces  the 
whole  history  of  his  subject,  with  clear  statement  of  every  question 
which  has  ever  arisen  in  connection  therewith,  and  does  it  in  a  way  at 
once  consecutive  as  to  time,  fair  in  the  statement  of  argument  pro 
and  con,  and  lucid  in  manner  of  presentation." — Chicago  Times. 

IV.  FEDERAL     TAXES     AND     STATE     EX 
PENSES  ;  or,  The  Decay  of  Separate  State  Power  of 
Excise  under  the   Federal    Constitution,  and   the   Com 
pensation  therein  Provided  for  it ;    and  the  Relation  of 
the  General  Civil    Administration  under  Separate   State 
Authority,  to  "  the  General  Welfare  of  the  United  States  " 
under  the    Federal  Autonomy.     By  WILLIAM  H.  JONES. 
(Questions  of  the  Day  Series,  No.  39.)     i2mo,  cloth,  $i  oo 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  AND 
POLITICAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES.  An  Analytical  Study.  By 
SIMON  STERNE,  of  the  New  York  Bar.  Second  edition, 
revised  with  additions.  i2mo,  cloth  .  .  .  $i  25 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  Publishers,  New  York  and  London. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 

Uncle  Sam's  Medal  of  Honor.  An  account  of  some  noble 
deeds  for  which  it  has  been  conferred  in  the  United  States. 
By  THEO.  F.  RODENBOUGH,  Bvt.  Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  A. 
Large  i2mo,  with  106  illustrations  (portraits  and  battle- 
scenes)  $2.00 

The  United  States  Medal  of  Honor  was  instituted  by  Congress  in  1862, 
and  is  similar  in  character  to  the  "  Badge  of  Merit "  instituted  by  Washington, 
the  Victoria  Cross,  etc.  It 'is  the'only  authorized  military  decoration  for  valor 
in  this  country,  and  this  volume. has  been  planned  to  present  some  of  the  most 
stirring  and  dramatic  incidents  connected  with  the  history  of  the  medal. 

The  narratives  are,  injnany1  cases,  related  by  the  actors. 

Flags  are  captured,  wounded  comrades  are  rescued  under  deadly  fire,  and 
curious  adventures  on- the  frontier  are  related  in  a  plain  "  camp-fire  "  fashion — 
principally  b>  men  in  the  rar/ks. 

"  Young  America"  will  find  this  book  a  wholesome  substitute  for  the  dime 
novel,  while^jj^ur  Veterans "  can  rely  on  the  historical  accuracy  of  the 
statements.  -  *  ?•  ' 

Recollections  of  a  Private  Soldier.  A  narrative  by  one  who 
fought  in  the  ranks  through  the  long  campaigns  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  By  FRANK  WILKESON.  Uniform  with 
EGGLESTON'S  "A  Rebel's  Recollections."  i6mo,  cloth,  $1.00 

It  is  the  idea  of  the  writer  that  existing  war  narratives  are  too  exclusively 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  commanders,  and  that  some  account  of  what  was 
being  said  and  thought  by  the  men  in  the  ranks  will  possess  personal  interest 
and  historical  value. 

A  Rebel's  Recollections.  By  GEO.  GARY  EGGLESTON  (late 
of  the  Confederate  Army).  Third  edition.  i6mo,  cloth,  $1.00 

This  volume  makes  a  curious  complement  to  that  of  Mr.  Wilkeson,  pre 
senting  a  graphic  picture  of  the  way  things  looked  to  a  private  in  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia. 

"  The  author  deserves  the  thanks  of  all  true  Americans  .  .  .  His  sketches 
are  models  of  characterization." — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

The  Naval  War  of  1812  ;  Or,  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  NAVY  DURING  THE  LAST  WAR  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN  ; 
to  which  is  appended  an  account  of  the  Battle  of  New 
Orleans.  By  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  author  of  "  Hunting 
Trips  of  a  Ranchman,"  etc.  Third  edition,  octavo,  $2.50 

"  The  style  is  singularly  concise,  lucid,  and  forcible.  The  reader  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  book  unconsciously  makes  up  his  mind  that  he  is  reading  history 
and  not  romance,  and  yet  no  romance  could  surpass  it  in  interest,  and  it  is 
certain  to  have  a  wide  and  permanent  popularity." — Philadelphia  Times. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 


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